Figure 2

Somatic cell movements during gonadogenesis. A. Male embryo carrying a Six4-nls-eGFP transgene imaged during stages 12–14. The three SGP clusters (red arrows) originating in parasegments 10–12 associate during germ band retraction before gonad compaction. The msSGPs (green arrows) migrate anteriorly and dorsally to join the gonad. Projections from 30 z sections taken at 1 μm intervals are shown at the time points indicated. These data are also shown in Additional file 2. B. SGP movements in an Hmgcr homozygous mutant embryo. Female embryo homozygous for a strong allele of Hmgcr allowing SGP movements to be observed in the absence of associating PGCs. The three SGP clusters (red arrows) are in close proximity by mid stage 12 (0 min). These data are also shown in Additional file 3. C. Cells migrate towards the gonad from a ventral, posterior position in female embryos. Wild type female embryo expressing nls-eGFP in SGPs. A single section is shown at the time points indicated. A small number of cells migrate to the gonad from parasegment 13 in a similar manner to the msSGPs observed in males. Some remain associated with the gonad (cyan arrow) while others move rapidly away (green arrow). These data are also shown in Additional file 4.