simple-homemade-tools-to-handle-fruit-fliesdrosophila-melanogaster

Simple Homemade Tools to Handle Fruit Flies&#8212;<em>Drosophila melanogaster</em>

The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, is widely used both in biological research and biology education. Handling adult flies is common but difficult in ...

an-adjustable-high-definition-imaging-system-for-behavioral-studies

An Adjustable High-Definition Imaging System for Behavioral Studies of <em>Drosophila</em> Adults

Drosophila melanogaster is a very powerful model in biological research, but a bad model for photography or videography. This paper describes a simple but ...

China Agricultural University

It has long been noted that high temperature produces great variation in wing forms of the vestigial mutant of Drosophila. Most of the wings have defects in the wing blade and partially formed wing margin, which are the result of autonomous cell death in the presumptive wing blade or costal region of the wing disc. The vestigial gene (vg) and the interaction of Vg protein with other gene products are well understood. With this biochemical knowledge, reinvestigations of the high-temperature-induced vestigial wings and the elucidation of the molecular mechanism underlying the large-scale variation of the wing forms may provide insight into further understanding of development of the wing of Drosophila. As a first step of such explorations, I examined high-temperature-induced (29 degrees C) vestigial wings. In the first part of this paper, I provide evidences to show that the proximal and distal costae in these wings exhibit regular and continuous variation, which suggests different developmental processes for the proximal and distal costal sections. Judging by the costae presenting in the anterior wing margin, I propose that the proximal and distal costal sections are independent growth units. The genes that regulate formation of the distal costal section also strongly affect proliferation of cells nearby; however, the same phenomenon has not been found in the proximal costal section. The distal costal section seems to be an extension of the radius vein. vestigial, one of the most intensely researched temperature-sensitive mutations, is a good candidate for the study of marginal vein formation. In the second part of the paper, I regroup the wing forms of these wings, chiefly by comparison of venation among these wings, and try to elucidate the variation of the wing forms according to the results of previous work and the conclusions reached in the first part of this paper, and provide clues for further researches.

The costae presenting in high-temperature-induced vestigial wings of Drosophila: implications for anterior wing margin formation.

Drosophila melanogaster is widely used as a model organism for biological investigations, and food is a major aspect of its ecology and evolutionary biology. Previous studies have shown that this insect can use fruits, yeasts and insect carcasses as its food sources. In this study, we demonstrate that this species is an omnivore, that its larvae can exploit not only fruits and yeast but also foods of animal origin (FAOs), and that larvae consume adult carcasses regularly. FAO-fed larvae develop into adulthood within a normal developmental time frame without the help of microbes. Yeast foods are better for Drosophila development than are foods of plant origin (FPOs) or FAO because in yeast foods, more eggs complete their life cycle, and the body size of emerged flies is much greater. Flies can use a mixture of yeast-FAO, which significantly boosts female fertility. Larvae digest FAOs externally. Larval D. virilis, D. hydei, and D. simulans are also omnivorous and demonstrate the same feeding habits as larval D. melanogaster. These findings prompt us to reconsider previous conclusions about the original adaptations of D. melanogaster and other Drosophila species and have direct implications for diet-related studies using Drosophila as a model organism.

Daxiang Yang

Department of Zoology and Animal Physiology,
College of Biological Sciences,
Department of Zoology and Animal Physiology, College of Biological Sciences

China Agricultural University

Simple Homemade Tools to Handle Fruit Flies—Drosophila melanogaster

An Adjustable High-Definition Imaging System for Behavioral Studies of Drosophila Adults

Daxiang Yang

Department of Zoology and Animal Physiology,College of Biological Sciences,Department of Zoology and Animal Physiology, College of Biological Sciences

China Agricultural University

Simple Homemade Tools to Handle Fruit Flies—Drosophila melanogaster

An Adjustable High-Definition Imaging System for Behavioral Studies of Drosophila Adults

Department of Zoology and Animal Physiology,
College of Biological Sciences,
Department of Zoology and Animal Physiology, College of Biological Sciences