Abstract
Egg activation is a universal process that includes a series of events to allow the fertilized egg to complete meiosis and initiate embryonic development. One aspect of egg activation, conserved across all organisms examined, is a change in the intracellular concentration of calcium (Ca2+) often termed a 'Ca2+ wave'. While the speed and number of oscillations of the Ca2+ wave varies between species, the change in intracellular Ca2+ is key in bringing about essential events for embryonic development. These changes include resumption of the cell cycle, mRNA regulation, cortical granule exocytosis, and rearrangement of the cytoskeleton. In the mature Drosophila egg, activation occurs in the female oviduct prior to fertilization, initiating a series of Ca2+-dependent events. Here we present a protocol for imaging the Ca2+ wave in Drosophila. This approach provides a manipulable model system to interrogate the mechanism of the Ca2+ wave and the downstream changes associated with it.
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