Dichaete Genetic Mutations In Fruit Flies

Using P-element Induced Male Recombination to Generate a Deletion in the DMAP1 Gene on Chromosome Two in Drosophila melanogaster

Introduction: The intention of this lab was to gain a better understanding of Mendelian genetics and inheritance patterns of the drosophila fruit fly. This was tasked through inspecting phenotypes present in the dihybrid crosses performed on the flies. An experimental virtual fly lab assignment was also used to analyze the inheritance patterns. Specifically, the purpose of our drosophila crosses is to establish which phenotypes are dominant/recessive, if the traits are inherited through autosome or sex chromosomes and whether independent assortment or linkage is responsible for the expressed traits.

Drosophila Melanogaster, commonly known as fruit flies, are highly important model organisms in pertaining to biological research. The logic behind their recurrent use is due to their: easy culture in the laboratory, brief generation time, and ability to produce large numbers of offspring. In this report, we created isolated virgin D. Melanogaster from the original three populations we were given and then created crosses between them. Upon observation, we noticed an unusual mutant that arose from two of the three created crosses. We suspected that this genetic mutation had previously been discovered and named.

The major topic of this experiment was to examine two different crosses between Drosophila fruit flies and to determine how many flies of each phenotype were produced. Phenotype refers to an individual’s appearance, where as genotype refers to an individual’s genes. The basic law of genetics that was examined in this lab was formulated by a man often times called the “father of genetics,” Gregor Mendel. He determined that individuals have two alternate forms of a gene, referred to as two alleles. An individual can me homozygous dominant (two dominant alleles, AA), homozygous recessive, (two recessive alleles, aa), or heterozygous (one dominant and one recessive

The Drosophila melanogaster is an ideal organism most often used to study genes and mutations. The genome of the D. melanogaster, is similar to that of humans, making it the very beneficial to study. Through the studies done on the fruit fly, we are able to get a better understanding as to the processes of modern issues such as Alzheimer’s and cancer, in order to study and develop cures. Not only is the D. melanogaster an ideal organism based on its genetic similarities to human genetics,

The basis of genetics were established by Gregor Mendel, an Augustinian monk in the mid to late 1800’s. Through the observations from cross-pollinating pea plants, Mendel was able to discover the basic laws of inheritance. Years later genetics would be studied on a multitude of organisms, some more than others. Drosophila melanogaster or the common fruit fly has been studied in depth for its great advantages, such as size, reproduction rate, ease of care and inexpensive room and board.

The unknown D. melanogaster mutant feature different phenotypic characteristics in wings compared to those in wild-type flies. The wild-type flies have balloon-like structure wings with oval-shaped edge and continuous bristle hair row surrounding the wing margin. Meanwhile the mutant wings exhibit incisions in different size and shapes along the wing margins with discontinuous bristle hair row. The mutant wings are also slightly smaller than the wild-type ones. These features

The 792 Drosophila melanogaster mutation is known as guindo. Guindo or guinda is the spanish word for a deep red wine, burgundy or ox-blood color. The phenotypic differences between a WT D.melanogaster and a 792 MUT differ at their larval, pupal and adult stage. In the larval stage there was not any significant phenotypic differences noticed, only behavioral differences were apparent. The wandering MUT larvae had a tendency to clump or travel as a group; while the WT wandered and scattered individually. At the pupal stage the MUT Drosophila melanogaster had a uniform shape and size. All of the MUTs seemed to have spiracles. The WT pupa differed in size and shape, and spiracles were not noticeable in all of them. In the adult stage MUT wings were almost parallel to the body and close together, compared to the flared out WT wings. The antennae on MUTs also seemed to be larger than in WT. The mouth was also a noticeable difference, MUTs had a much smaller mouth than WT did. The most noticeable difference is the eye color and shape. MUTs had a

To set up this experiment, two twenty-five gallon aquariums, 3 petri-dishes, 200 flies, rotten bananas, and yeast were used. The bananas chosen to be an accelerant for the growth of the yeast and were frozen so they would be easier to cut. The yeast was used because the drosophila melanogaster prefer this as a food source.  The vestigial and wild type flies were sexed (to determine their sex), sorted, and counted.  An initial population size of 100 total flies was decided so that it would be easier to determine the phenotypic percentage of the total population. Fly paper was placed in one of the sets of cages to impose a method of natural selection as well as the sexual selection which is being solely tested by the other set of cages.

The conducted experiment assists in determining an unknown mutant allele found in Drosophila melanogatser. Mutant 489 illustrates a defect in eye pigmentation, which displays a dark brown eye color verses the brick red eyes in wild type flies. Based on the appearance our 489 mutation we've names our mutant rust.

When examining the D. Melanogaster mutants in the lab, our group immediately noticed an apparent difference from the wild-type flies. None of the mutants were able to fly. This led us to believe that we were dealing with a wing mutation. Upon further examination, we concluded that it was the overall wing shape that prevented the mutants from flying. The wing shapes among the mutants varied in both size and shape. Some were long, while others were short. The mutant wings could be distinguished into two general classes. One division of the mutant wing was short and stubby, almost a fourth the size of the wild-type wing. The rest of the mutants ranged in wing size and length, however many mutant wings were the same length as the wild-type wings. Although the

The main purpose of this lab was to utilize the infamous Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium equation to predict the evolutionary modifications a certain species (Drosophila melanogaster) displayed throughout different generations. For this experiment to be carried out, Drosophila melanogaster, also known as fruit flies, were used to visually represent evolutionary conceptions such as Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium equation. At the beginning of the experiment, the parent generation was observed first. Throughout the course of seven weeks, the vial was analyzed for certain changes between the two populations of Drosophila melanogaster; wild type and ebony. Although the genotypes could not be figured out, the flies were evaluated and observed based on

The Drosophila melanogaster is one of genetics most studied organisms. This is due to the Drosophila melanogaster being an excellent model organism. The Drosophila melanogaster has a short lifespan and is genetically similar to humans (Adams 2000). This experiment had three major goals. The first goal of this experiment was to determine which eye colors, body colors and wing type are dominant or recessive. The second goal was to determine if the gene for eye colors, body colors and wing type are on an autosomal or a sex chromosome. The third goal was to determine if eye colors, body colors and wing type are physically linked or independently assorting (Morris and Cahoon). First

The Drosophila melanogaster is a fruit fly with a very short life cycle. They can be winged or wingless, and have red eyes or white eyes. The different options are called alleles. Alleles are the variants of a specific gene, and one is received from each parent on each chromosome. (“What Are Dominant and Recessive?”). It was chosen to use winged females and wingless males to predict the offspring in this experiment. The winged allele is dominant, meaning it only needs one allele to physically appear. The wingless allele is recessive, which gets covered up by the dominant allele (“Fruit Fly Genetics”). Each trait has two alleles in the flies’