Thawing and Transplantation of Cryopreserved Primordial Germ Cells for Drosophila Strain Revival

To begin, align the stage five egg mimetic Drosophila host embryos on a transplantation glass slide. While orienting their posterior to the right and ventral to the top, line up approximately 30 embryos in two rows in 20 minutes. Thaw the cryopreserved PGCs in the needle by submerging the holder with the needle pointing downward into EBR solution at room temperature.

Keep it submerged for 10 seconds. Place the transplantation glass slide on the microscope stage. Attach the freeze thawed needle to the capillary holder and bring the first embryo into the left row and the needle tip into the same focal plane.

Using a 20x objective lens, position the needle tip gently at the surface of the posterior end of the embryo. Prod the outside of each embryo gently, and confirm that they slowly return to their original shape. Penetrate an embryo from the posterior pole using the needle.

Gently deposit approximately 10 to 20 PGCs inside the posterior pole, specifically between the vitelline membrane and the somatic cell layer, and retract the needle from the embryo before repeating the same for subsequent embryos. Finally, to revive the strain, cross newly emerged females and males.