FAST AND EFFICIENT EGG COLLECTION AND ANTIBODY STAINING FROM LARGE NUMBERS OF DROSOPHILA STRAINS

The genetic dissection of any developmental processes requires mutagen esis protocols and the subsequent phenotypic screen of the established mutant strains. Whereas external structures such as the Drosophila cu ticle are relatively easy to score without the need of further manipul ations, the analyses of internal structures such as the nervous system often requires the use of antibodies to detect abnormalities. Here we describe an im proved method to: (a) simultaneously collect Drosophil a eggs from large number of fly strains, (b) process them fast for ant ibody staining and (c) facilitate rapid subsequent screening.