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    Precise development in the fruit fly embryo
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    Precise development in the fruit fly embryo

    2593

    This 2-hour-old fly embryo already has a blueprint for its formation, and the process for following it is so precise that the difference of just a few key molecules can change the plans. Here, blue marks a high concentration of Bicoid, a key signaling protein that directs the formation of the fly's head. It also regulates another important protein, Hunchback (green), that further maps the head and thorax structures and partitions the embryo in half (red is DNA). The yellow dots overlaying the embryo plot the concentration of Bicoid versus Hunchback proteins within each nucleus. The image illustrates the precision with which an embryo interprets and locates its halfway boundary, approaching limits set by simple physical principles. This image was a finalist in the 2008 Drosophila Image Award Link to external website.
    Public Note
    Internal NoteIt would be great to be part of your gallery and to be featured on BioBeat. I acquired, analyzed and composed the image. Please put tglab.princeton.edu in "source". Gregor, Department of Physics Drosoph embryo 2 hr after fertilization w/ nuclei at the surface fluorescently labeled for Bicoid protein (blue), Hunchback prot (green) and DNA (red). Using two-photon microscopy these embryos were imaged to quantitatively characterize the dynamics and precision of how morphogen molecs comuncte positional info to indiv nuclei. The shallow Bicoid gradient generates a sharp Hunchback boundary, partitioning the embryo in half. This input/output relationship is quantitatively rep?d in the foreground (yellow), where each dot specifies the Bicoid concentration (horizontal axis) and Hunchback concentration (vertical axis) measured in a single nucleus. This illustrates the precision with which an embryo interprets and locates this boundary, approaching limits set by simple physical principles. http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/biobeat/09-04-15/index.html#1
    Keywords
    SourceThomas Gregor, Princeton University
    Date2009-04-16 00:00:00
    Credit LineThomas Gregor, Princeton University
    InvestigatorWilliam Bialek and Thomas Gregor, Princeton University
    Record TypePhotograph
    Topic Area(s);#Genes;#Molecular Structures;#
    Previous UsesApril 15, 2009 Biomedical Beat
    StatusActive

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