Time-lapse movie of Drosophila melanogaster embryogenesis

This movie shows the embryonic development of Drosophila melanogaster from an egg until the hatching of the larva.

D. melanogaster embryos were collected after 5–10min laying time, and dechorinated for 1min 30sec in 50% bleach. For imaging I brushed the dechorinated embryos onto a microscopy slide and covered them with a drop of 10S voltalef oil ensuring that they did not dry out. Live imaging started around 10–20 min after egg laying. The slide was placed on a temperature-controlled platform at 25C, and the embryo imaged with a Leica DM6000B upright compound microscope using a 20x objective, DIC optics, and time intervals of every 1min.

Note that the time stamp indicates the time after imaging was started and not the time from egg laying. Additionally, development proceeds slightly slower when imaging under oil.