Colby College

3 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Neuroscience

Methods to Characterize Spontaneous and Startle-induced Locomotion in a Rotenone-induced Parkinson's Disease Model of Drosophila

Jennifer Liao¹, Laura W. Morin¹, S. Tariq Ahmad¹

¹Department of Biology, Colby College

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that results from the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the central nervous system, causing locomotion defects. Rotenone models Parkinson’s disease in Drosophila. This paper outlines two assays that characterize both spontaneous and startle-induced locomotion deficiencies caused by rotenone.

Genetics

Measuring Gene Expression in Bombarded Barley Aleurone Layers with Increased Throughput

Grace Uwase¹, Taylor P. Enrico¹, David S. Chelimo¹, Benjamin R. Keyser¹, Russell R. Johnson¹

¹Department of Biology, Colby College

An improved protocol is presented for the measurement of transient gene expression from reporter constructs in barley aleurone cells after particle bombardment. The combination of automated grain grinding with 96-well plate enzyme assays provides high throughput for the procedure.

Developmental Biology

Injecting Gryllus bimaculatus Eggs

Samantha K. Barry¹, Taro Nakamura², Yuji Matsuoka³, Christoph Straub⁴, Hadley W. Horch⁴, Cassandra G. Extavour⁵

¹Colby College, ²Division of Evolutionary Developmental Biology, National Institute for Basic Biology, ³Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, ⁴Department Biology and Department of Neuroscience, Bowdoin College, ⁵Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University

Here we present a protocol to inject cricket eggs, a technique which serves as a foundational method in many experiments in the cricket, including, but not limited to, RNA interference and genomic manipulation.