preview

Fruit Fly Lab Report

Better Essays
Open Document

Abstract The objective of this lab to, develop an understanding of the inheritance patterns observed in a fruit fly. For this experiment we used Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism due to its short life cycle, small size, and its virtual inexpensiveness. Drosophila melanogaster commonly known as the fruit fly used in this experiment provided experimental data that was in agreement with the laws of segregation and independent assortment proposed by Gregor Mendel. We began with F1 generation set of flies consisting of dihybrid males and females. The F1 generation consisted of all heterozygous genotypes. By examining the F2 offspring’s at the end of the lab and using the Chi-square test to test our hypothesis we were able to determine …show more content…

We then added a few grains of yeast to each vial (not exactly the same). We then added sufficient fly water (1%propionic acid) to hydrate and compress the flakes. As the fly water was added the flakes turned bright blue. We then cut our given 2x2inch plastic nets in half and forming a cross we pushed then down the tube, making sure it doesn’t touch the bottom of the vial touching the food. We then were handed our F1 generation flies. We then realized that the F1 flies that we had received were dihybrid and “will produce approximately 50-70 adult flies over a span of 10-12 days” (Carolina.com, Drosophilia, “living F1 ap X se cross”). As we put the F1 vial into the freezer to temporary immobilize the flies we simultaneously prepared our anesthetizing chamber. Labeling our vials we then began to anesthetize our flies for transportation. Made very small hole into the bottom of the anesthetizing chamber then removed the bottom lid and placed a very finite amount of flynap onto the cotton, then closed the lid and placed the stopper back on. Then we removed the flies from the freezer within 4 minutes and gently tapped a few of them into the anesthetizing chamber and closed the lid. After 3 minutes we removed the lid and placed the immobilized flies under the light scope and began to separate male from female. Males had a darker end than females making separation easy. Placing two males and two females into each vial at a 90 degree angle to ensure the flies don’t stick to the food on the bottom and die. We then placed the vials on their size into a dark and closed space. My group met multiple times through this husbandry process to reposition the vials after a few days and exam for signs of F2 larva. After one weeks without result we decided to rehydrate the food and wait a few more days. Checking back we saw larva in the vials, then removed the F1 generations to

Get Access