43rd ANNUAL DROSOPHILA RESEARCH CONFERENCE
April 10-14, 2002

PROGRAM AND ABSTRACT VOLUME
Workshop Abstract

23W
Cell cycle and checkpoints in the preblastoderm embryo. J. Y. Ji and G. Schubiger. Dept. Zoology, Univ Washington, Seattle, WA.

Live observations of the preblastoderm cell cycles using the two photon confocal microscope gave us new insight into the preblastoderm cell cycle. We observed interphase extensions after cycle 6, much earlier than previously reported. Interestingly this pre cycle 10 interphase extensions are identical in both embryos from wild-type and grapes mutant mothers. Thus cell cycle extension between cycles 7 and 10 must be independent of a DNA checkpoint. This raises the possibility that earliest cycles lack a checkpoint mechanism. 2. Analysis of downstream effectors of the meiotic checkpoint induced by mutations in the spindle class of repair enzymes.