Name:________________________________________ Date:_______

Drosophila Simulation - Patterns of Heredity

Objective: Students will learn and apply the principles of

Mendelian inheritance by experimentation with the fruit fly
Drosophila melanogaster. Students will make hypotheses for
monohybrid, dihybrid and sex-linked traits and test their
hypotheses by selecting fruit flies with different visible
mutations, mating them, and analyzing the phenotypic ratios of
the offspring.

Website: https://www.sciencecourseware.org/FlyLabJS/
(*revised 2020)

The image shows a wild-type female fly (left) and a male fly. Recall that "wild-type" refers to the most common
or typical form seen in the wild. A + sign is used to denote when a fly displays the wild-type characteristic. In a
real lab, you would learn to identify females by their pointed abdomens.

Part 1: getting familiar with the flies and the program.

Examine the phenotypes available from the left side menu to answer the following questions.

1. Examine the different types of bristles seen in flies. Geneticists use a shorthand labeling system. F = forked.
Identify the phenotypes shown:

2. Compare antennae types. How is "aristapedia" different from wild-type?

3. What are different eye colors in fruit flies? Name the one that is wild-type.

4. Regarding wing size, what is the difference between apterous and vestigial?

5. What are the body colors in fruit flies?

6. Create a mutant fly with any number of variations and mate it with a wild-type fly. How many offspring were
wild-type?

7. Mate the offspring of the cross. Use the analyze tab to get more details about the F2 offspring. (The button to
"ignore sex" may make counting easier.)

How many wild-type offspring were produced?

How many mutant flies were produced?

 Before you start part 2, reload the webpage so that all the crosses that you did are reset.

Part 2a: Monohybrid Crosses

You may realize that choosing a lot of different types of flies make it difficult to analyze inheritance patterns.
Your next tasks will focus on analyzing single traits within flies to determine how they are inherited.

1. Reset all flies in the design tab.

2. Design a male fly with vestigial wings and cross it with a wild-type female
3. Add the results to your "Lab Notes." and enter the data in the Table 1 below

4. Mate the offspring of this cross.

5. Add the results to your "Lab Notes." and enter the data in the Table 2 below

6. Based on these two crosses you probably have an idea about how vestigial wings are inherited.

Is VG recessive or dominant?

How do you know?

7. In genetics, numbers are statistically analyzed. The fly simulator has a built into it. Under the Analyze tab,
you can click on "Include a test hypothesis."

Hypothesis testing begins with you stating a Null Hypothesis (H0) and Alternative Hypothesis (Ha).

Null Hypothesis (H0): “The observed phenotypic distribution IS NOT significantly different from
the expected phenotypic distribution”

Alternative Hypothesis (Ha): “The observed phenotypic distribution IS significantly different from
the expected phenotypic distribution”

If your hypothesis that VG is a recessive trait is correct, then you would expect what proportion of
the F2 offspring to have vestigial wings?

What proportion would have wild-type wings?

8. Place the expected numbers in the hypothesis field and click on "test your hypothesis." The program will do
the chi square calculations.

What is your chi-squared test statistic?

Compare this to the chi square table to determine a goodness of fit.

Compare your p value to the significance level.

What can you say about your null hypothesis based on these observations?
Table 1:

Phenotype of male parent______________ Phenotype of Female Parent______________________

Phenotype Observed Numbers Proportion

Female:
Male:
Total 1.00

Table 2:

Phenotype of male parent______________ Phenotype of Female Parent______________________

Phenotype Observed Proportion Hypothesis Probability Expected (O-E)2/E

Numbers Numbers
Female:
Male:
Female:
Male:
Total 1.00 1.00 1.00

Chi-Squared Test Statistic: If you ignored the sex of the flies and did an analysis with
just the different phenotypes, how would the following values
Degrees of Freedom change? Why?

Chi-Squared Test Statistic:

Level of Significance: 0.05
Degrees of Freedom
Critical Chi-Squared value (from the table):
Critical Chi-Squared value (from the table):
p Value:
p Value:
Note:

(a) You can find the Chi-Squared table at the end of this document

(b) p Value is labelled incorrectly as Level of Significance in the program.

Part 2b: Monohybrid Crosses: Reciprocal Cross

9. Reset all flies in the design tab.

10. Design a female fly with vestigial wings and cross it with a wild-type male
11. Add the results to your "Lab Notes." and enter the data in the Table 3 below

12. Mate the offspring of this cross.

13. Add the results to your "Lab Notes." and enter the data in the Table 4 below
14. Based on these two crosses you probably have an idea about how vestigial wings are inherited.

Is VG recessive or dominant?

How do you know?

15. In genetics, numbers are statistically analyzed. The fly simulator has a built into it. Under the Analyze tab,
you can click on "Include a test hypothesis."

Hypothesis testing begins with you stating a Null Hypothesis (H0) and Alternative Hypothesis (Ha).

Null Hypothesis (H0): “The observed phenotypic distribution IS NOT significantly different from
the expected phenotypic distribution”

Alternative Hypothesis (Ha): “The observed phenotypic distribution IS significantly different from
the expected phenotypic distribution”

If your hypothesis that VG is a recessive trait is correct, then you would expect what proportion of
the F2 offspring to have vestigial wings?

What proportion would have wild-type wings?

16. Place the expected numbers in the hypothesis field and click on "test your hypothesis." The program will do
the chi square calculations.

What is your chi-squared test statistic?

Compare this to the chi square table to determine a goodness of fit.

Compare your p value to the significance level.

What can you say about your null hypothesis based on these observations?

Table 3:

Phenotype of male parent______________ Phenotype of Female Parent______________________

Phenotype Observed Numbers Proportion

Female:
Male:
Total 1.00
Table 4:

Phenotype of male parent______________ Phenotype of Female Parent______________________

Phenotype Observed Proportion Hypothesis Probability Expected (O-E)2/E

Numbers Numbers
Female:
Male:
Female:
Male:
Total 1.00 1.00 1.00

Chi-Squared Test Statistic: If you ignored the sex of the flies and did an analysis with
just the different phenotypes, how would the following values
Degrees of Freedom change? Why?

Chi-Squared Test Statistic:

Level of Significance: 0.05
Degrees of Freedom
Critical Chi-Squared value (from the table):
Critical Chi-Squared value (from the table):
p Value:
p Value:
Note:

(a) You can find the Chi-Squared table at the end of this document

(b) p Value is labelled incorrectly as Level of Significance in the program.

17. Why was it necessary to do the reciprocal crosses?

18. Compare the results from the reciprocal crosses. Were they similar or different? What does this tell you
about the inheritance of the character?

19. Summary: Explain how vestigial wings are inherited in fruit flies (claim) and provide evidence from your
data and chi-square statistic analysis.
20. Take the F1 male from Part 2a. Cross it with a vestigial wing female.

21. Add the results to your "Lab Notes." and enter the data in the Table 5 below.

22. Take the F1 female from Part 2a. Cross it with a vestigial wing male.

23. Add the results to your "Lab Notes." and enter the data in the Table 6 below.

24. The crosses performed in (20) and (22) are called “Test Cross”. These are considered additional proof for
the mechanism of inheritance of vestigial wing. Explain why?

25. If you did Test Cross with F1 Individuals from Part 2b, would you expect the results to be same or different
from what you see in tables 5 and 6? Explain.

Table 5:

Phenotype of male parent______________ Phenotype of Female Parent______________________

Phenotype Observed Numbers Proportion

Female:
Male:
Total 1.00

Table 6:

Phenotype of male parent______________ Phenotype of Female Parent______________________

Phenotype Observed Numbers Proportion

Female:
Male:
Total 1.00
Part 3a: Dihybrid Crosses

Your next tasks will focus on analyzing two traits within flies to determine how they are inherited.

1. Reset all flies in the design tab.

2. Design a male fly with Ebony Body colour and Purple eye colour and cross it with a wild-type female
3. Add the results to your "Lab Notes." and enter the data in the Table 7 below

4. Mate the offspring of this cross.

5. Add the results to your "Lab Notes." and enter the data in the Table 8 below

6. Based on these two crosses you probably have an idea about how both these characters are inherited.

Which character is recessive and which is dominant?

How do you know?

7. In genetics, numbers are statistically analyzed. The fly simulator has a built into it. Under the Analyze tab,
you can click on "Include a test hypothesis."

Hypothesis testing begins with you stating a Null Hypothesis (H0) and Alternative Hypothesis (Ha).

Null Hypothesis (H0): “The observed phenotypic distribution IS NOT significantly different from
the expected phenotypic distribution”

Alternative Hypothesis (Ha): “The observed phenotypic distribution IS significantly different from
the expected phenotypic distribution”

If your hypothesis that VG is a recessive trait is correct, then you would expect what proportion of
the F2 offspring (including both male and female progeny) to have:

Wild Type_____ Purple eye, wild type body_____

wild type eye, Ebony body______ Purple eye, Ebony body______

8. Place the expected numbers in the hypothesis field and click on "test your hypothesis." The program will do
the chi square calculations.

What is your chi-squared test statistic?

Compare this to the chi square table to determine a goodness of fit.

Compare your p value to the significance level.

What can you say about your null hypothesis based on these observations?
Table 7:

Phenotype of male parent______________ Phenotype of Female Parent______________________

Phenotype Observed Numbers Proportion

Female:
Male:
Total 1.00

Table 8:

Phenotype of male parent______________ Phenotype of Female Parent______________________

Phenotype Observed Proportion Hypothesis Probability Expected (O-E)2/E

Numbers Numbers
Female:

Male:

Female:

Male:

Female:

Male:

Female:

Male:

Total 1.00 1.00 1.00

Chi-Squared Test Statistic: If you ignored the sex of the flies and did an analysis with
just the different phenotypes, how would the following values
Degrees of Freedom change? Why?

Chi-Squared Test Statistic:

Level of Significance: 0.05
Degrees of Freedom
Critical Chi-Squared value (from the table):
Critical Chi-Squared value (from the table):
p Value:
p Value:
Note:

(a) You can find the Chi-Squared table at the end of this document
(b) p Value is labelled incorrectly as Level of Significance in the program.

Part 3b: Dihybrid Crosses: Reciprocal Cross

9. Reset all flies in the design tab.

10. Design a female fly with Ebony Body colour and Purple eye colour and cross it with a wild-type male
11. Add the results to your "Lab Notes." and enter the data in the Table 9 below

12. Mate the offspring of this cross.

13. Add the results to your "Lab Notes." and enter the data in the Table 10 below

14. Based on these two crosses you probably have an idea about how both these characters are inherited.

Which character is recessive and which is dominant?

How do you know?

15. In genetics, numbers are statistically analyzed. The fly simulator has a built into it. Under the Analyze tab,
you can click on "Include a test hypothesis."

Hypothesis testing begins with you stating a Null Hypothesis (H0) and Alternative Hypothesis (Ha).

Null Hypothesis (H0): “The observed phenotypic distribution IS NOT significantly different from
the expected phenotypic distribution”

Alternative Hypothesis (Ha): “The observed phenotypic distribution IS significantly different from
the expected phenotypic distribution”

If your hypothesis that VG is a recessive trait is correct, then you would expect what proportion of
the F2 offspring (including both male and female progeny) to have:

Wild Type_____ Purple eye, wild type body_____

wild type eye, Ebony body______ Purple eye, Ebony body______

16. Place the expected numbers in the hypothesis field and click on "test your hypothesis." The program will do
the chi square calculations.

What is your chi-squared test statistic?

Compare this to the chi square table to determine a goodness of fit.

Compare your p value to the significance level.

What can you say about your null hypothesis based on these observations?
Table 9:

Phenotype of male parent______________ Phenotype of Female Parent______________________

Phenotype Observed Numbers Proportion

Female:
Male:
Total 1.00

Table 10:

Phenotype of male parent______________ Phenotype of Female Parent______________________

Phenotype Observed Proportion Hypothesis Probability Expected (O-E)2/E

Numbers Numbers
Female:

Male:

Female:

Male:

Female:

Male:

Female:

Male:

Total 1.00 1.00 1.00

Chi-Squared Test Statistic: If you ignored the sex of the flies and did an analysis with
just the different phenotypes, how would the following values
Degrees of Freedom change? Why?

Chi-Squared Test Statistic:

Level of Significance: 0.05
Degrees of Freedom
Critical Chi-Squared value (from the table):
Critical Chi-Squared value (from the table):
p Value:
p Value:
Note:

(a) You can find the Chi-Squared table at the end of this document
(b) p Value is labelled incorrectly as Level of Significance in the program.

17. Why was it necessary to do the reciprocal crosses?

18. Compare the results from the reciprocal crosses. Were they similar or different? What does this tell you
about the inheritance of the character?

19. Summary: Explain how Purple eye colour and Ebony body colour are inherited in fruit flies (claim) and
provide evidence from your data and chi-square statistic analysis.

20. Take the F1 male from Part 3a. Cross it with a purple eye, ebony body female.

21. Add the results to your "Lab Notes." and enter the data in the Table 11 below.

22. Take the F1 female from Part 3a. Cross it with a purple eye, ebony body male.

23. Add the results to your "Lab Notes." and enter the data in the Table 12 below.

24. The crosses performed in (20) and (22) are called “Test Cross”. These are considered additional proof for
the mechanism of inheritance of purple eye and ebony body. Explain why?

25. If you did Test Cross with F1 Individuals from Part 3b, would you expect the results to be same or different
from what you see in tables 11 and 12? Explain.
Table 11:

Phenotype of male parent______________ Phenotype of Female Parent______________________

Phenotype Observed Numbers Proportion

Female:
Male:
Female:
Male:
Total 1.00

Table 12:

Phenotype of male parent______________ Phenotype of Female Parent______________________

Phenotype Observed Numbers Proportion

Female:
Male:
Female:
Male:
Total 1.00

Chi-Squared Table