Visualizing signaling and cell movement during the multicellular stages of dictyostelium development.

Time-lapse microscopy provides a powerful tool with which to study cell behavior during Dictyostelium development. On a macroscopic level, the overall cell movement patterns that give rise to the complex multicellular structures such as slugs and fruiting bodies can be studied together with the signal waves that coordinate cell movement. Using green fluorescent protein fusion proteins, it is also possible to visualize the cytoskeleton or signal transduction processes at high resolution in single cells in their multicellular environment.