14 replies to this topic

[cpman]

Hi everyone!

I recently got a culture of wingless fruit flies, and I've noticed that there are some variants.

Because I'm interested in them, I'm going to try isolating some of these variants.

I've noticed that some have really bright eyes, instead of the brick red ones that are normal. I think this is the orange-eyed variant.

I've also noticed that some get knocked out much faster by cold than others, and stay out for longer, seemingly independent of their body size.

Also, there is a pretty decent size range in the females. Some are almost 1/2 mm longer!

Some have smaller eyes as well and others have a dark splotch on the thorax.

I'm going to try isolating these strains. I'm really interested in breeding bigger fruit flies that get knocked out by cold pretty easily for feeding.

I'm going to use a pretty standard culture medium of 1:2:4 white sugar:powdered milk:instant potatoes.

 

I'll post my progress towards isolating these and maybe other variants on this thread.

Edited by cpman, July 1 2015 - 3:12 PM.

[drtrmiller]

Very cool.  Remember to use a mold inhibitor in your medium, though.

[cpman]

Thanks for the tip. I'll probably acidify my first batch of medium with citric acid, as I don't have any methylparaben and I need to setup the new cultures tomorrow.

Edited by cpman, July 1 2015 - 3:35 PM.

[Myrmicinae]

Unfortunately, the size range in D. melanogaster is created mostly through environmental variation (e.g., starvation) and is not necessarily hereditary.  Of course, there is no harm in giving it a try anyway.  I haven't heard of someone using this particular selection protocol before.  Keep us updated!

Edited by Myrmicinae, July 1 2015 - 3:28 PM.

[cpman]

Thanks! I thought it was mostly environmental, but I'm unsure if there may or may not be any genes involved. I'm mostly interested in making them easy to feed by letting them be knocked out by cold really easily, which apparently is hereditary.

Edited by cpman, July 1 2015 - 3:36 PM.

[AntsNY]

Cold seems to knock mine out nearly instantly.

 

I also see the same types of variations in my wingless flies (Some even have wings despite their modification).

 

Its like Jurassic Park said "Nature finds a way"

[cpman]

Today, I started two tubes of flies in addition to making a new main culture. I won't bother updating about the main culture anywhere, as it will remain mixed.

In each tube there is 4g of the 1:2:4 mix (by weight) of sugar:powdered milk:instant potatoes. There is also .25g of citric acid and 12g of water in each of these tubes.

Tube 1 has 2 bright-eyed females and 2 bright eyed males.

Tube 2 has 3 females and 1 male with a dark mark on their thorax.

 

If these tubes are successful, I will empty out the adult files as soon as I see them, as the females have probably mated with males that aren't the ones I picked. I'll sort out any flies that aren't of the desired type. I'll add very young ones of the desired type to a new tube to try and isolate the strain.

[cpman]

Well, the citric acid worked TERRIBLY for mold prevention. It evidently didn't lower the PH enough. I should have actually calculated the PH instead of just guessed when it would be enough....

There is a grey-blue mold that looks a lot like the stuff on blue cheese over the surface of the medium in both tubes and in my new main culture. The flies are still alive though. I'm going to order some methylparaben to fix this issue next time around. I'm going to actually do some calculations for the citric acid and set up a test container with no flies to see what PH should be low enough to prevent mold..

Edited by cpman, July 6 2015 - 8:31 AM.

[LC3]

Penicillin? 

[cpman]

It turns out that I added enough citric acid to make the pH around 2.04, which is quite low. I'm going to make a new batch of medium with a pH of 4 and add some baker's yeast to see if I can get it to outcompete the mold. I'm going to empty the flies out of the moldy tubes and culture into the old culture and then clean them out. I'm just going to leave the new medium out for 2 days to see if it molds. If it doesn't, I'm going to make up a new big batch for the cultures. The mix also seems a bit dry, so I'm going to up the water to 100g/30g medium.

 

LC3: Penecillin isn't an antifungal. It is an antibacterial that is produced by fungi of the genus Penecillium.

 

To make a medium of pH = 4, I need so little citric acid per 100g of water that I'm just going to up it to .01g, which makes the solution come out with a pH of around 3.2. This will be the basis for my new test.

Edited by cpman, July 6 2015 - 11:03 AM.

[LC3]

IK, but the mold on blue cheese is closely related to the penicillin mold.

Edited by LC3, July 6 2015 - 11:05 AM.

[cpman]

Yeah. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Penecillium of some sort, as they are pretty common molds. It still is covering the medium though, which can't be healthy.

[Crystals]

I get that grey/black mold in most of my cultures.  I found the best way to avoid it is to add some microworms to the medium.  The worms stir up the medium so mold can't take hold.  They don't seem to bother the flies or maggots.

 

The microworms do seem to create more moisture from the medium, I occasionally have to add some dry potato flakes to absorb excess water in my bigger containers.  Sometimes I can just pin a piece of paper towel under the lid and touching the medium to absorb the excess moisture.

[William. T]

Try not to let a single wild fly get in.... I think that's why my flies suddenly got wings, as I seen wild flies get into my culture, breeding flies with wings.

[Foogoo]

Try not to let a single wild fly get in.... I think that's why my flies suddenly got wings, as I seen wild flies get into my culture, breeding flies with wings.

And don't give them any Red Bull!