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Images document scientific discoveries and are prevalent in modern biomedical research. Microscopy imaging in particular is currently undergoing rapid technological advancements. However, for scientists wishing to publish obtained images and image-analysis results, there are currently no unified guidelines for best practices. Consequently, microscopy images and image data in publications may be unclear or difficult to interpret. Here, we present community-developed checklists for preparing light microscopy images and describing image analyses for publications. These checklists offer authors, readers and publishers key recommendations for image formatting and annotation, color selection, data availability and reporting image-analysis workflows. The goal of our guidelines is to increase the clarity and reproducibility of image figures and thereby to heighten the quality and explanatory power of microscopy data.

Bioimaging data have significant potential for reuse, but unlocking this potential requires systematic archiving of data and metadata in public databases. We propose draft metadata guidelines to begin addressing the needs of diverse communities within light and electron microscopy. We hope this publication and the proposed Recommended Metadata for Biological Images (REMBI) will stimulate discussions about their implementation and future extension.

In the present investigation, nuclei of endodermal cells, primary and secondary mesenchyme cells (PMCs and SMCs), and small micromere descendants (SMDs) of the sea urchinLytechinus variegatuswere counted and mapped at five developmental stages, ranging from primary invagination to pluteus larva. The archenteron and its derivatives were measured three dimensionally with STERECON analytical software. For the first time SMC production is included in the kinetic analysis of archenteron formation. While the archenteron lumen doubled in length during secondary invagination, the number of archenteron cells increased byat least38% (over 50% when SMCs that emigrated from the tip of the archenteron were included). The volume of the archenteron epithelial wall plus the volume of 17 new SMCs increased by 40% over the equivalent volumes at the end of primary invagination. Because secondary invagination involves the addition of archenteron cells and an increase in volume of the archenteron epithelium, we conclude that secondary invagination is not accomplished simply by the rearrangement and reshaping of the primary archenteron cells. Both archenteron cell number and wall volume continued to increase at the same rates from the end of secondary invagination until the 27-h prism stage, although the lumen lengthened more slowly. SMCs were also produced at a constant rate from primary invagination until the prism stage. Because the production of both endodermal and mesodermal cells continues until the late prism stage, we conclude that gastrulation (defined as the establishment of the germ layers) also extends into the late prism stage.