Animations Page
The first animation shows the delamination of a neuroblast from ventral neuroectodermal cells in the Drosophila embryonic CNS. On average about one out of five ectodermal cells (blue) in the neuroectoderm goes on to become a neuroblast (green). The presumptive neuroblast delaminates into the inside of the embryo and divides asymmetrically to "bud off" a series of unique ganglion mother cells (GMCs) (red, orange, purple). GMCs divide to form two neurons. The first GMC's neurons are shown projecting axons. The animation is available in three formats: AVI at 734 K, Quicktime MOV at 918 K, and MPEG at 360 K.
The second animation starts looking at a whole embryo and zooms into a single segment in the developing neuroectoderm. The neuroblasts in the segment delaminate and we focus on the neuroblasts MP2 and 4-2 (red). These divide to form vMP2 (yellow) and dMP2 (orange) interneurons and the RP2 motoneuron (purple). The animation is available in two formats: AVI at 1,283 K and MPEG at 842 K.
The third animation deals with the asymmetric localization of the proteins Prospero (Pros, red), Inscuteable (Insc, blue) and Numb (green) in an asymmetrically dividing neuroblast. Pros is a divergent homeodomain protein, Insc is a novel cytoplasmic and/or membrane-associated protein, and Numb is a novel membrane-associated protein. The animation starts at interphase. As the neuroblast enters mitosis, Insc is localized to the apical cortex, while Pros and Numb are localized to the basal cortex and are selectively segregated into the budding GMC. Other color codes for cellular components are as follows: chromsomes/DNA are purple, centromeres are cyan, kinetocores are solid yellow, nuclear membrane is translucent yellow.
This animation is under construction at the moment.
Animations done by Rob McDaniel.
E-mail him at
103252.2354@compuserve.com.
Or visit his homepage.
