EMBL Guest Seminar

	Title:	In toto reconstruction of Danio rerio embryonic development
	Speaker:	Mr. Philipp Keller EMBL Graduate Student
	Place:	Myodaiji Conf. Rm. (111)
	Date:	2008.07.29(Tue) 16:00 - 17:00
	Abstract:	The global understanding of vertebrate embryonic development is a longstanding goal of biology. We developed Digital Scanned Laser Light Sheet Fluorescence Microscopy (DSLM) and recorded three-dimensional zebrafish embryogenesis in vivo and in toto, from the 32-cell stage until late somitogenesis and with sub-cellular resolution. Multi-view imaging at a speed of 1.5 billion voxels per minute facilitates simultaneous tracking of 16,000 cells and reveals a quantitative view on embryonic development. We transformed our in toto recordings into comprehensive databases of cell positions, cell divisions and migratory tracks throughout zebrafish embryogenesis, thus creating "digital embryos". We used these digital reconstructions to derive a new comprehensive morphogenetic model of germ layer formation and show that the mesendoderm is formed by only 1/3 of the embryo's cells, which internalize in a single synchronized event. The high-throughput and high-content capabilities of DSLM that are demonstrated in our study constitute key features for a powerful approach to systems biology. On this basis, comprehensive cell lineaging studies, the construction of databases of organ development and a complete in vivo reconstruction of gene expression dynamics via gene and enhancer trap lines now finally come within reach for complex vertebrate species.