Technique

One technique that I am using in my research is creating vials that shelter the Drosophila after they have been exposed to the cadmium. It takes, on average, ten days after the flies have been collected and stored in their respective concentration of cadmium to produce usable offspring that could potentially contain virgin flies. During the ten day process, it is typical to see larvae and pupae at about day four (Pupae are brown and are an older version of larvae). Once there is an abundance of flies, the parents are etherized and either dumped or used in other experiments (such as survivability). Bottles are then cleared in which all parent flies are disposed. This ensures that when bottles are observed (usually three to four hours later) virgin flies will only be in the bottles. Virgin flies are typically light in body color and can be seen with the naked eye.

The technique that I was primarily writing about was creating vials for these virgin flies. It is important to allow the flies to leave their “cadmium contained” home and be isolated from all other flies. This ensures that no mating will occur before an actual test of research observed mating occurs. Dr. Schnee and I isolate the flies not only by gender but also individually. It is a tedious process in which small glass vials are used containing .8 g of Carolina Biological Supply (Drosophila formula) and .3 mL of water. Once bottles have been prepared and labeled, virgin flies are placed individually into these vials by use of an aspirator. I currently have approximately 30 vials that have been prepared over the last two days that will be used for testing on Wednesday. The flies that were used were flies that were collected a week ago Monday while the science hall was first experiencing its heating problem (although, I did not realize it when I was in the fly room). J These flies do not need to be held in the incubator, they are fine to leave at room temperature.

Some experiments suggest four days instead of three, but I am simply testing on three day intervals due to our shared research schedule with two other science friends.

The most difficult part of this process of using virgin flies and testing their mating behavior is getting one female and one male into a vial. I typically look to if there is an abundance of prepared vials (where flies are held individually) and use those flies as my moving organisms to other vials. Losing flies in the process is common and irritating if there are a scare number of flies available. Using an aspirator I move one fly to another vial containing a fly. It is possible to move both flies to a new vial that does not contain any food and Dr. Schnee and I will probably try both methods. Once this process is complete, Dr. Schnee and I record mating behaviors and courtship time.

*Survivability (mentioned above in this blog) will be discussed in a future post.

*Mating behaviors and courtship will be discussed in a future post.

*I attached the article that I brought to class today. The intro is most beneficial to my research because it talks about the effects cadmium can have on Drosophila in terms of motor and nerve function. This could explain why certain levels of cadmium are hindering to the flies and don’t allow for successful mating to occur. The article goes into greater depth on nerve functioning and it suggests that perhaps cadmium was placed at the wrong part of the neuron when trying to determine its affect on calcium channels (which is also associated with muscle and nerve functions). Feel free to read!

*Here is a picture of a vial containing one fly taken during research time today. Enjoy!