Abstract
Inheritance in Drosophila is a significant aspect that is linked to the traits and characters related to a particular sex. The Drosophila fly is an organism that helps in undertaking a proper analysis of the sex-linked inheritance, considering that it can produce offspring within a short time. The following report will focus on the study of the fruit fries, which will be used as the specimen for an experiment that will seek to understand the pattern associated with sex-linked inheritance in Drosophila. The research will involve the use of a wide range of technology to help in the observation and analysis of the fruit fly. The report will analyze the materials and methods used in the experiment and create a narrative of the procedures undertaken within the lab. Finally, the report will explain the results and provide a comprehensive discussion that is based on the results obtained.
Introduction
The fly Drosophila is an organism that is commonly used in the lab for studies involving genetics. The fact that the organism has a short generation time makes it easy to analyze different features and traits considering the ability to produce offspring within a short time while cultured in the lab (Coleman & Struhl, 2017). The primary purpose of the laboratory experiment involved undertaking an analysis of the particular traits of Drosophila , which is commonly referred to as a fruit fly. The experiment sought to evaluate the process of inheriting different characteristics and how the process works in the fruit fly. The main objective of the paper involved the analysis of the mutant phenotypes that could be found during the experiment. The specific traits identified during the lab experiment regarding the fruit flies included the males and females and the eye colour, which was white and red for the wild fruit fly.
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Materials and Methods
The elements involved in the experiment included the male and female Drosophila, empty culture vials, a fly nap, sterile water, dry Drosophila media, cotton swabs, and a microscope. Other materials included sponge stoppers, ether, blank labels, yeast, and an incubator. The experiment involved measuring a minimal amount of dry Drosophila media in the culture vials and putting sterile water in the bottles and ensuring that it was wet evenly and not to the point that it would drown the flies. Afterward, a small amount of yeast was added in each of the vials to serve as food for the flies. The step in the experiment involved the selection of the parents that would be used for the collection of the phenotypes. The cotton swabs were used in the variety of desirable females and placed on the vial containing the males. The process involved selecting the fruit flies based on different traits to allow them to mate with those with different characteristics.
Results
The significant trait observed during the experiment presented the flies with a dark abdomen and white eyes, while others had red eyes. The analysis during the mating of the flies indicated that the majority of the flies had white and red eyes. An observation in the lab indicated that there were no baby flies during the first week, which is an indication that the life of a fruit fly takes approximately two weeks. The results from the parental cross 1 indicated that a majority of the files had the red-eye colour trait. Out of the 26 wild fliers, 22 were male, and 4 were female. Among the flies with white eyes, 27 were females, and 68 were males. In the F2 generation, there is a significant increase in the number of male flies with the red (wild-type) eye colour trait where out of 84 flies, only six flies had the white eye trait. Out of the eight females in the F2 generation, only 1 has the white eye colour trait.
| White | Wild-Type | |
| Male | 1 | 5 |
| Female | 2 | 4 |
Vial 1
Vial 2
| White | Wild-Type | |
| Male | 68 | 22 |
| Female | 27 | 4 |
F2 Generation
| White | Wild-Type | |
| Male | 6 | 78 |
| Female | 1 | 7 |
Discussion
The results from the experiment provided an indication that the red colour trait among the fruit flies was dominant over the trait of white eye colour. The red (wild) eye colour trait that dominated in the offspring was an indication of the mode of inheritance used by Drosophila , where the dominant trait becomes more prevalent. According to Aldrich & Maggert (2015), Drosophila uses the sex-linked inheritance mode of inheritance. The results in the sex-linked heritage are reciprocal and not identical as it is in other types of genetic inheritance, which is an aspect that provides an explanation on the dominance of the red-eye colour trait in fruit flies (Ciabrelli et al., 2017). The fact that the red-eye colour trait is dominant and the white eye colour trait is mutant provides an indication that the trait is only found on the X-chromosomes. Considering that the number of males with the red-eye colour increased significantly during the experiment, it is an indication that the trait was only present on the X-chromosome and absent on the Y-chromosome.
References
Aldrich, J. C., & Maggert, K. A. (2015). Transgenerational inheritance of diet-induced genome rearrangements in Drosophila. PLoS genetics , 11 (4), e1005148.
Ciabrelli, F., Comoglio, F., Fellous, S., Bonev, B., Ninova, M., Szabo, Q., ... & Bantignies, F. (2017). Stable Polycomb-dependent transgenerational inheritance of chromatin states in Drosophila. Nature genetics , 49 (6), 876.
Coleman, R. T., & Struhl, G. (2017). A causal role for the inheritance of H3K27me3 in maintaining the OFF state of a Drosophila HOX gene. Science , 356 (6333), eaai8236.
