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Early Embryology, Fate Determination, and Patterning in Drosophila
Early Embryology, Fate Determination, and Patterning in Drosophila
Early Embryology, Fate Determination, and Patterning in Drosophila
DETERMINATION, AND
PATTERNING IN DROSOPHILA
Dr. Joy C. Chavez
Instructor
Why are
Drosophila
good for genetic
studies?
Reasons for use in laboratories
o Its care and culture require little equipment, space, and expense even when
using large cultures.
o It can be safely and readily anesthetized (usually with ether, carbon dioxide
gas, by cooling, or with products such as FlyNap).
o Its morphology is easy to identify once anesthetized.
o It has a short generation time (about 10 days at room temperature), so
several generations can be studied within a few weeks.
o It has a high fecundity (females lay up to 100 eggs per day, and perhaps
2000 in a lifetime).
o Males and females are readily distinguished, and virgin females are easily
isolated, facilitating genetic crossing.
o The mature larva has giant chromosomes in the salivary glands called
polytene chromosomes, "puffs", which indicate regions of transcription,
hence gene activity. The under-replication of rDNA occurs resulting in only
20% of DNA compared to the brain. Compare to the 47%, less rDNA in
Sarcophaga barbata ovaries.
o It has only four pairs of chromosomes – three autosomes, and one
pair of sex chromosomes.
o Males do not show meiotic recombination, facilitating genetic
studies.
o Recessive lethal "balancer chromosomes" carrying visible genetic
markers can be used to keep stocks of lethal alleles in a
heterozygous state without recombination due to multiple inversions
in the balancer.
o The development of this organism—from fertilized egg to mature
adult—is well understood.
o Genetic transformation techniques have been available since 1987.
o Its complete genome was sequenced and first published in 2000.
o Sexual mosaics can be readily produced, providing an additional tool
for studying the development and behavior of these flies.
LIFE CYCLE OF DRASOPHILA
DROSOPHILALIFE
• Life cycle by CYCLE
days
Day 0: Female lays eggs
Day 1: Eggs hatch
Day 2: First instar (one
day in length)
Day 3: Second instar
(one day in length)
Day 5: Third and final
instar (two days in
length)
Day 7: Larvae begin
roaming stage.
Pupariation (pupa
formation) occurs 120
The Drosophila life cycle represents the differentiation of
two distinct forms: the larva and the Imago (adult).
Metamorphosis: Embryogenesis:
differentiation of differentiation
the imago (adult) of the larva
• Pupae
• Adult
• 8 abdominal segments
• Each different from each other
T2 – legs &
wings
T3 – legs &
halteres
• Gap genes
• Pair-rule genes
engrailed
5.Homeotic selector genes;
Provide segmental identity
- interactions of gap, pair-
rule,
- and segment polarity
proteins
- determines
developmental fat
Segmentation
Cell fate commitment: Genes
Phase 1 – specification
Phase 2 – determination
- early in development cell fate depends on
interactions among protein gradients
- specification is flexible; it can alter in response to
signals from other cells
- eventually cells undergo transition from loose
commitment to irreversible determination