Sixteen isotropic 3D fluorescence live imaging datasets of Tribolium castaneum gastrulation

Abstract Gastrulation is a pivotal phase of early embryogenesis during which initially uniform cells undergo coordinated movements and fate specification to establish the basic body plan. Although previous studies have advanced our understanding of gastrulation in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum, quantitative morphogenetic data remain limited. Here, we present the second Systematic Live Imaging Collection of Embryogenesis (SLICE-2), consisting of sixteen isotropic 3D fluorescence live imaging datasets that document Tribolium gastrulation and early germband elongation. Imaging was performed using light sheet fluorescence microscopy in conjunction with a homozygous transgenic line that expresses mEmerald-labeled nanobodies against histone H2A/H2B. Embryos were recorded along four orientations, and the resulting axial image stacks were subjected to multiview fusion to obtain isotropic 3D images of entire embryos with reduced shadowing artifacts. Datasets are provided as weighted-average fusion and fusion-deconvolution derivatives, and nuclei segmentation data are available for selected datasets and stages. SLICE-2 expands the resource arsenal for Tribolium, enabling comprehensive analyses of gastrulation dynamics and providing benchmark data for image processing, segmentation, and modeling approaches. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.