Title: Guts going Nuts.

The fruit fly or Drosophila melanogaster, has served as a model organism to address many fundamental biological questions. One of the many questions that remain to be elucidated is how stem cells are maintained throughout the life-span of an organism. Recently a new population of stem cells was identi­ fied in the adult Drosophila intestinal tract. These stem cells resemble the stem cells found in higher organisms. When signals are disrupted that maintain the gut, similarly to mammals, this leads tumor-like overgrowths consisting of multiple cell types. This new stem cell population in the fruit fly will serve as a valuable tool in the future to understand stem cell behavior, the factors required for the maintenance of stem cell identity and tumourogenesis.

Taken with LSM 510 Meta/Axiovert 200M
Plan-Neofluar 40x/1.3 Oil DIC
Wavelength, Dyes and Filters
405nm - Blue – DAPI – BP 420-480
488nm - Green – Alexa 488 – BP 505-530
561nm - Red – Alexa 568 – BP 560-615
633nm - White – Alexa 647 – LP 650