Net transport of embryonic organelles in Drosophila

Early Drosophila embryos undergo drastic changes in their transparency during just a few hours.  At first, they are completely opaque (top), then the periphery becomes clear (middle), but later clouds up again (bottom).  These changes in opacity are due to large scale transport of yolk storage organelles:  cytoplasm filled with these organelles is opaque, cytoplasm depleted of them is clear.  This property allows us to monitor the global distribution of organelles in living embryos.  Click here to see a movie of this process.

Partially responsible for these changes in opacity is the redistribution of one particular storage organelle, lipid droplets. During the initial clearing, lipid droplets deplete from the periphery; during the subsequent clouding, lipid droplets accumulate again in the periphery. Click here for a cartoon version of clearing and clouding.


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