Imaginal disc staining

This is a standard antibody-staining procedure. For eye-antennal imaginal disc stained with anti-Elav antibody, a neuron-specific antibody, see Figure 12.3A. 

Add glycerol PBS (1 1) to the tube and immediately remove the samples with a cut tip (while they are floating) and place onto a slide. Dissect out the optic lobe with needles and mount the slide with only the eye disc, or retina, on it (see Note 21). Alternatively the slides with imaginal discs can be mounted as previously described for embryos (see Staining and Mounting on Slides ). The samples can be circled with a nonfluorescent pen to facilitate viewing. 

The mouth parts serve as a convenient means of transferring the eye discs from one solution to the next throughout the staining procedure, so it is preferable to leave them attached until the final mounting stages. To transfer the eye-antennal imaginal discs, spear the mouth hooks with a tungsten needle. 

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