Immunostaining of Drosophila late-stage oocytes can prove challenging due to the oocytes' surrounding membranes. This video describes a high-throughput method for obtaining oocytes, their fixation, and membranes' removal for immunostaining. The featured protocol demonstrates these techniques with late-stage oocytes used to visualize different stages of meiosis.
Protocol
This protocol is excerpted from Radford and McKim, Techniques for Imaging Prometaphase and Metaphase of Meiosis I in Fixed Drosophila Oocytes, J. Vis. Exp. (2016). NOTE: Procedures are performed at room temperature unless otherwise noted. Temperature-controlled incubators are used to maintain temperatures for fly rearing and crosses unless otherwise noted. 1. Preparations Prepa…
Representative Results
Drug Solvent Stock concentration Final concentration Time of treatment Effect colchicine ethanol 125 mM 150 µM 10 min or 30 min destabilize non-kinetochore (10 min) or all (…
Materials
16% formaldehyde
Ted Pella, Inc.
18505
HAZARDOUS; once opened, discard after one month
250 ml beakers
Various
5 ml tubes
Various
active dry yeast
Various
mix with water to make a paste the consistency of peanut butter
Binucleine 2
Sigma
B1186
HAZARDOUS
blender
Various
bovine serum albumin
Sigma
A4161
calcium chloride
Various
colchicine
Sigma
C-9754
HAZARDOUS
coverslips
VWR
48366-227
No. 1 1/2
DMSO
Various
EGTA
Various
ethanol
Various
forceps
Ted Pella, Inc.
5622
Dumont tweezers high precision grade style 5
glass slides
VWR
48312-003
glucose
Various
HEPES
VWR
EM-5330
available from several venders
magnesium chloride
Various
large mesh (~1,500 µm)
VWR
AA43657-NK
variety of formats and other suppliers, 12 or 14 mesh
small mesh (~300 µm)
Spectrum labs
146 424
variety of formats, e.g., 146 422 or 146 486
nutator
Various
Pasteur pipets
Various
potassium acetate
Various
Cacodylic acid
Sigma
C0125
HAZARDOUS; alternatively, sodium cacodylate may be substituted
Preparation of Fixed Drosophila Oocytes for Immunostaining: A High-Throughput Method to Fix and Remove the Outer Membrane. J. Vis. Exp. (Pending Publication), e20122, doi: (2023).