Basic techniques in Drosophila ovary preparation

Abstract

Drosophila melanogaster oogenesis has emerged as an excellent model system to study multiple aspects of eukaryotic cell biology. Ovarian tissue can easily be isolated and analyzed through microscopy or biochemical and molecular biology techniques. Here we describe the isolation of ovarian tissues, techniques to enrich for egg chambers at distinct developmental stages, preparation of protein and nucleic acid extracts, and preparation for microscopic analysis of fixed tissues.