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Essay on Introduction to Drosophila Genetics

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INTRODUCTION TO DROSOPHILA GENETICS
DROSOPHILA CULTURE We will study basic principles of Mendelian inheritance with the use of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster [the name means “black-bodied fruit-lover”]. Drosophila was one of the first organisms to be studied genetically: its small size, short life cycle (10 ~14 days at 25oC), high reproductive rate (an adult female can lay 400-500 eggs in 10 days), and ease of culture and genetic manipulation have made it perhaps the best understood animal genetic system. Many different species, and a large number and wide variety of naturally-occurring and artificially-induced genetic variants are available. The partial genetic map in Appendix B describes the location of all the mutations used in …show more content…

Thus, the genotype of a wild-type homozygote would be designated e +e + (or ++), a mutant homozygote ee, and a heterozygote e +e or e+ [Use of the term “wild-type” derives from an early assumption that most flies are homozygous for a ‘standard’, usually dominant, allele. As we will see, this is not the case, but the terminology is still used]. It is important to remember that not all mutants are recessive. A mutation that is dominant to the wild-type is symbolized by a capital letter. For example, the typical eye shape is round. One mutant produces a narrow “bar eye”: the allele is dominant, symbolized by a capital letter B, and the wild-type (round) eye is B+.

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GENETIC CROSSES An “X” is used to indicate that two individuals have been mated together. The parents are designated as P (for parental) and the offspring as F (for filial). When several generations are involved, subscripts are added to designate the generations. P1 give rise to F1 (first filial) progeny. If the F1 are crossed together they become P2 and their progeny F2. A cross between members of the F1 and members of the P1 is a backcross. A cross between members of the F1 and the true breeding recessive P1 is a test cross. MONOHYBRID CROSS The simplest form of a cross is a monohybrid cross, which analyses a single trait and its associated variations. The diagram below shows the

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