Antibody Staining in Drosophila Germaria

Using Drosophila Oogenesis in the Classroom to Increase Student Participation in Biomedical Research

Students that participate in undergraduate research benefit in multiple ways, including improved learning outcomes, increased enthusiasm for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, and increased likelihood of continuation into a STEM career. These benefits are even more pronounced for students that are traditionally under-represented in STEM, although these students often face barriers to participation in traditional apprenticeship-style research experiences. Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are a promising and increasingly popular approach to increase undergraduate participation in research in a way that is inclusive of all students. Here, we describe how Drosophila oogenesis can be used as the basis for CUREs in a wide variety of courses. We provide an overview of our own oogenesis-based CURE, as well as suggestions for how this CURE could be adapted to accommodate a variety of schedules, course sizes, and institution types. Our goal is to simplify the process for CURE implementation in the hopes that a greater number of instructors choose to implement a CURE in their own courses.

Whole-Mount RNA FISH Combined with Immunofluorescence for the Analysis of the Telomeric Ribonucleoproteins in the Drosophila Germline

The RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique combined with immunostaining is a powerful method to visualize a specific transcript and a protein of interest simultaneously. Although whole-mount RNA FISH is routinely used to determine RNA intracellular localization, a detailed picture of RNA distribution in complex tissues remains a challenge. The main problem is the various permeability of morphologically different cells within a tissue. We overcome this challenge by developing an approach based on differential permeabilization treatment of tissue specimens. We have tested and optimized conditions for RNA FISH combined with immunofluorescent staining (RNA FISH/IF) to detect the maternal telomeric retrotransposon HeT-A RNPs in the Drosophila ovaries and syncytial embryos. Methods described here are applicable to a broad variety of biological tissue specimens.