Drosophila monitoring

Vogel, E.W. Nivard, M.J.M. (1993) Performance of 181 chemicals in a Drosophila assay predominantly monitoring interchromosomal mitotic recombination. Mutagenesis, 8, 57-81... 

Umbach JA, Grasso A, Zurcher SD et al (1998) Electrical and optical monitoring of a-latrotoxin action at Drosophila neuromuscular junctions. Neuroscience 87 913-24 Ushkaryov YA, Hata Y, Ichtchenko K et al (1994) Conserved domain structure of (i-neurexins. Unusual cleaved signal sequences in receptor-like neuronal cell-surface proteins. J Biol Chem 269 11987-92... 

Fig. 11.3. Circadian rhythm of locomotor activity in the fly Drosophila (Konopka Benzer, 1971). Shown, from top to bottom, are the rhythms for the normal fly, the arrhythmic mutant, and the pet and per mutants. The rhythms are monitored in constant infrared light by an event recorder. Records read from left to right each successive interval is replotted to the right of the preceding one.

Donner M, Hytonen S, Sorsa M. 1983. Application of the sex-linked recessive lethal test in Drosophila melanogaster for monitoring the work environment of a rubber factory. Hereditas 99(1 ) 7-... 

We have also used the autocorrelation function to monitor the breakdown and reformation of the nuclear lamina in living Drosophila early embryos (Fig. 7, see color plate). Prior to this study, observations in fixed embryos had left it unclear whether the nuclear lamina broke down and dispersed in these nuclei. By continually observing individual nuclei in a time-resolved fashion (Fig. 7, a-e), we could demonstrate that the lamina does, indeed, break down and disperse. Furthermore, by observing time-dependent changes in the shape of midnuclear autocorrelation functions (Fig. 7, f-h), we could show that the lamina dispersal was a part of a smooth, continuous process of structural rearrangement that we could relate to structural changes in other components of the mitotic spindle (Fig. 7i) (for more details, see Paddy et al., 1996). 

Fig.l Cell-free assembly of nuclei from demebranated Xenopus sperm in a Drosophila embryo extract. Time course through sperm decondensation and nuclear formation monitored by phase-contrast microscopy. Incubation was at 24°C for the times indicated (a) 0 min incubation (b and c) 15 min (d and e) 20 min (f and g) 30 min (h-k) 45-50 min (l-p) 60-70 min. The bar in panel p designates 25 (im and applies to all panels. 

Some degree of controversy exists as to whether nuclear envelope formation precedes, parallels, or follows the assembly of a nuclear lamina (see Georgatos et ai, 1994 Lourim and Krohne, 1994). Formation of the nuclear envelope in Drosophila embryo extracts is lamin dependent (Ulitzur et ai, 1992). In contrast, lamin-independent nuclear envelope assembly in vitro has been reported in Xenopus (Newport et ai, 1990 Meier et ai, 1991) and sea urchin (Collas et ai, 1995). The latter studies corroborate immunofluorescence observations of nuclear reconstitution after mitosis in somatic mammalian cells in vivo (Chaudhary and Courvalin, 1993). Assembly of a nuclear lamina in vitro can be monitored by immunofluorescence and immunoblotting using anti-lamin antibodies. 

Microinjection of living Drosophila embryos is essential in embryonic research and requires precise control of injection location and force [Shen et al. (2007)]. Current practice in microinjection typically involves manual operation by human, which is time-consuming with low yield. It is thus of interest to automate the microinjection process, and the IPMC-PVDF sensori-actuator structure can potentially be used to realize automated microinjection. Here we demonstrate the monitoring of IPMC-actuated microneedle with the integrated PVDF feedback, in penetrating living Drosophila embryos. A micro pipette with a sharp tip (1.685 pm in diameter and 2.65° in angle) was mounted at the free end of the IPMC-PVDF structure, as illustrated in Fig. 8.12. 

Figure 16.4. Giant fiber (GF) system of Drosophila. The schematic cut away of an adult fly shows the brain (in white) and the dorsal longitudinal muscle (DLM) fibers of the thorax. The soma of the giant neuron is found in the central brain and projects a giant axon into the thoracic ventral nerve cord (VNC) where it synapses on the DLM motor neurons. The giant neuron can be stimulated by electrodes placed in the brain, and the output of the circuit is monitored with intracellular electrodes in the DLM fiber.

The bacterial CAT enzyme catalyzes the transfer of acetyl groups to chloramphenicol from acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl CoA). In a typical assay, this reaction is monitored with relabeled chloramphenicol After separation by thin-layer chromatography (TLC), the acetylated and nonacetylated forms can be distinguished by autoradiography, and quantitation is achieved by isolating the forms and measuring their radioactivity in a scintillation counter. Quantitative CAT assays have been performed on Drosophila tissue culture and dissociated cell extracts (Di Nocera and Dawid 1983 Benyajati and Dray 1984 Thummel et al. 1988 Krasnow et al. 1989 Ye et al. 1997). CAT can also be detected with commercially available antibodies. In addition, a nonradioactive CAT assay exists that utilizes a fluorescent chloramphenicol derivative (Molecular Probes). 

Barthmaier P. and Fyrberg E. 1995. Monitoring development and pathology of Drosophila indirect flight muscles using green fluorescent protein. Dev. Biol. 169 770-774. 

Fasano L. and Kerridge S. 1989. Monitoring positional information during oogenesis in adult Drosophila. Development 104 245—253. 

Dankert H et al (2009) Automated monitoring and analysis of social behavior in Drosophila. Nat Methods 6 297-303... 

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