Western Ontario University

2 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Neuroscience

Straightforward Assay for Quantification of Social Avoidance in Drosophila melanogaster

Robert W. Fernandez¹, Marat Nurilov², Omar Feliciano², Ian S. McDonald³, Anne F. Simon³

¹Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, ²Department of Biology, York College/CUNY, ³Department of Biology, Western Ontario University

Here, we present a protocol to quantify the avoidance of stressed individuals. This paradigm is powerful yet user-friendly and can be used to assess the influence of genes and environment on one kind of social interaction in Drosophila melanogaster.

Neuroscience

Conditions Affecting Social Space in Drosophila melanogaster

Alison R. McNeil¹, Sam N. Jolley¹, Adesanya A. Akinleye², Marat Nurilov², Zulekha Rouzyi², Austin J. Milunovich³, Moria C. Chambers³, Anne F. Simon¹

¹Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, ²Department of Biology, York College/CUNY, ³Department of Entomology, Cornell University

The effect of genes and environment on social space of Drosophila melanogaster can be quantified through a powerful but straightforward analytical paradigm. We show here different factors that can affect this social space, and thus need to be taken into consideration when designing experiments in this paradigm.