Taking single images of cells is always informative to biologists.  Even more revealing, however, are movies of cells in their living context.  A recent paper in Development describes a technique allowing the imaging of a fruit fly ovary, and opens the door for further studies of stem cell biology.

The fruit fly Drosophila has a stunningly beautiful ovary.  The ovary is composed of about 15 ovarioles, which each houses an organ, called the germarium, that serves as the assembly line for egg production.  In the germarium, two types of stem cells play important roles – germline stem cells and follicle stem cells.  Germline stem cells divide to kick off the egg production process, while follicle stem cells divide to provide several different types of cells that support egg development.  A recent paper describes a technique allowing the investigation of these stem cells within their normal environments, and paves the way for further studies on stem cell biology.  In this paper, Morris and Spradling dissected and imaged ovarioles in a culture dish, using fluorescent tags of cells in order to show their division and movement.  Images show a cartoon and high-resolution images of a fruit fly germarium, with germline stem cells (GSC) marked in pink and follicle cells in green (FSC are follicle stem cells).

BONUS!!  For a cool movie of a germarium showing cell divisions and dynamic movement, click here.

For a more scientifically detailed description of this image, check out my post on The Node, the community forum for and by developmental biologists.