Fruit Fly Lab Report

The experiment was performed on February 2nd 2016 at the University of Calgary in a Biological Science laboratory. The experimental procedure was done in a group of four students.

The artificial flies are weightless and fixed to hook with thread, feathers and fur using either natural or artificial material. The insect should have

One possible error that may have occurred was that some of the adult flies may have accidentally been left in the vials with their offspring,

Drosophila melanogaster is a small, common fly found near unripe and rotted fruit. It has been in use for over a century to study genetics. Thomas Hunt Morgan was the best biologist studying Drosophila early in the 1900’s. Morgan was the first to discover sex-linkage and genetic recombination, which placed the small fly in the forefront of genetic research. Scientists have used Drosophila for many reasons. For one they are very easy to maintain, breed, anesthetize, and kill with little equipment. They are also very small and it is easy to distinguish males vs females and sexually mature flies and virgins. At lastly, the flies have a very short two week life span. On days 2-7 of their life

It was decided that there would be 80 vestigial flies and 20 wild type flies to total to an initial population of 100 drosophila. Next, the flies were anesthetized flies using Fly Nap. The flies were counted out to reach desired ratio, sexing the flies making sure there are equal amounts of males and females to be sure there is ample individuals to allow successful mating. The fly’s food was prepared by taking a frozen rotten banana, cutting it in half, mashing up the banana meat, and mixing yeast into it. The

We started out with three populations; B, D, and G. In order for us to properly create controlled genetic crosses, we had to ensure that all the female flies were “virgins”.

Describe the sex and phenotype of the mutant fly. Describe the phenotype as it compares to the wild type.

Mature flies have no functioning mouth-parts and are not associated with transmission of diseases or considered pests

When the larvae hatched, the anesthetising procedure shown from steps 1-5 was used to record the phenotype of the F1 generation and number of male or female flies.

Table 2 shows the phenotypes of the F1 flies produced by crossing P1 wild-type males and P1 no-winged females. The results of that cross was that there was fifty nine wild-type females and forty one males. Therefore there was a total of one hundred wild-type flies produced from crossing P1 true breeding wild-type males and P1 true breeding virgin

METHODS: In this experiment, the instructor provided us with 30 ebony individuals and 20 wild type individuals. In order to get an exact amount of each type, we anesthetized the flies and counted them off by gently using a fine point paint brush. Then all 50 Drosophila were put into a population cage which had a lid that had six holes for the centrifuge tubes. Two food tubes and four clean, empty tubes were added on the first day. Each food tube consisted of half a cup full of food mixed with 6-7 milliliters of water. This was the fly medium. The food should turn blue once the water is added. Each tube was labeled with a number and with the date. Every two to three days we added one more food tube until all 6 tubes contained the fly medium. After all 6 tubes were filled, the following days after we exchanged the first food tube with a new food tube. At the end of the experiment, we fed the flies with a total of 8 food tubes. Then the flies were anesthetized, again. At the end of this four week lab, the number of living ebony and wild

We began the experiment by dividing into pairs and selecting one mutation of flies. Claire and I started off with Vestigial Flies. We then got our supplies; three clean tubes, three caps, three sponges, fly nap and wand, dissecting microscope, paintbrush, and three small plastic plates (for separation). As a team, Claire began to tap the container containing the mutant flies (this way they stayed at the bottom), while I had my extra sponge and clean tub ready to stick on top of hers’. After counting down to three, she pulled the sponge on her fly container and I quickly placed the empty vial on top. I then flipped the vials upside down and proceeded to knock as many to the empty vial as I could. We did the exact same step as before, counted

A male fly has bristles on its forelegs called sex combs. The abdomen of a male fly is also blunted and darker at the end. Male flies are also smaller than female flies. Female flies do not have sex combs. Their abdomens are longer with stipes and are pointed.

For our first generation (F1) of flies we chose to cross apterous (+) females and white-eye (w) males. We predicted that the mutation would be sex linked recessive. So if the female was the sex with the mutation then all females would be wild type heterozygous. Heterozygous is a term used when the two genes for a trait are opposite. The males would all be white eye since they only have one X chromosome. If the males were the sex that had the mutation then all the flies would be wild type but the females would be heterozygous.

In general, all living organisms rely on evolution by natural selection to better adapt to their environment. This adaptation requires mutations, or changes in DNA, that improves reproductive success, referred to as fitness (Tortoise approach works best, 2015). Therefore, fitness can be described as organisms that are proficient in producing off springs and fruit flies produce more off springs than tortoises so, they have a greater fitness. For the most part, I learned that a fruit fly life cycle begins when the female lays her eggs on a piece of fermenting fruit or sweet organic material. In fact, a fruit fly can lay up to 500 eggs, making it difficult to control the population and they’re hatching into small what larvae. For the most part,