Open EGGbox: an open-source 3D-printed embryonic Gallus gallus toolbox for electroporation and culture/live imaging of avian embryos ex ovo

Abstract

We present an open source, 3D-printed toolbox for avian embryology. The toolbox includes an electroporation chamber for transfecting functional molecular reagents into developing embryos, and a set of live-imaging chambers, which support avian embryo development while presenting them to a wide variety of microscope setups. We demonstrate both electroporation and imaging chambers by transfecting novel fluorescent reporter constructs for the TGF-beta signalling pathway and Pax7, Brachyury, Cdx2 and Sox2:Oct4 transcription factors into chick embryos and performing time-lapse imaging from stages HH3 - HH12 via both widefield and confocal fluorescence microscopy. Open-source code and ready-to-print STL files are freely available from a GitHub repository in line with FAIR (findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability) principles.