Inheritance Pattern in Drosophila melanogaster: Vestigial wings and

Yellow body color

Navarro Torres, Mariela

Abstract

The purpose of this experiment was to find which pattern of inheritance was the one
followed by the mutations for vestigial wings and yellow body in Drosophila
melanogaster, by observing the direct and reciprocal cross. After examining the parental
strain and the first generation, by anesthetizing the flies with ether, the hypothesis was
developed. It was stated that the inheritance pattern for vestigial wings would be
autosomal recessive, and for yellow body, sex- linked recessive. Later on, the second
generation was also observed. With these results, chi square was determined and later the
p value was found. The p value for the direct cross was 0.20< P < 0.10, and for the
reciprocal cross was P < 0.001. For the direct cross, the hypothesis was a good fit.
However, for the reciprocal cross, the hypothesis appeared to be a bad fit. Using
scientific literature as reference, it is known that our hypothesis is true. Therefore, for
future studies, in order to reduce the error, we suggest that a smaller fixed number of flies
be used, and that there is a better understanding of the mutation, so there is no mistake
whenaclassifying.

Introduction Computer Science, Hobart and William

Smith Colleges). Drosophila are sexually
Drosophila melanogaster is a fruit fly
dimorphic as well, simplifying male and
widely used in genetic research because of
female classification. They are small and
its versatility. Its genome, which has been
relatively easy to handle when anesthetized
completely sequenced, is composed of four
and their care requires very little equipment.
pairs of chromosomes. This quality
facilitates the localization of genes. D. Thomas Hunt Morgan, an American used D.
melanogaster has a short generation time melanogaster as his model organism to
(10- 12 days), this allows performing study the role chromosomes played in
various crosses, and in little time, have heredity . Applying Mendelian genetics, he
progeny (Guía para el uso de Drosophila, discovered sex- linkage and genetic
2010; Department of Mathematics and recombination. As a result of his

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discoveries, which earned him a Nobel Prize organism in genetics. (Nobel Prize
in 1933, Drosophila has become the model Organization)

Table 1: Drosophila melanogaster wildtype description.

7 abdomen segments
slightly bigger than male
Female
Tip of abdomen is pointed
No sex comb red eyes
yellow- brown body
5 abdomen segments color
slightly smaller than female 4 bristles in scutello
Tip of abdomen is round elongated wings
Male Sex comb is present
Last two segments of
abdomen are darker

Applying Mendelian genetics it is possible is to determine the pattern of inheritance,

to predict the resulting progeny of a cross. which could be: autosomal recessive,
autosomal dominant, sex- linked recessive
The purpose of this experiment is to predict
or sex- linked dominant.
the pattern of inheritance, given a pair of
mutations. After observing the parental and first
generation, our hypothesis was generated.
There are many mutations among
We expect that the inheritance pattern for
Drosophila. Among them are the ones for
vestigial wings will be autosomal recessive,
vestigial wings and yellow body color
and for yellow body, sex- linked recessive.
(Figure 1). The purpose of this experiment

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 (A) (B) (C)

Figure 1. (A) Drosphila melanogaster wildtype. (B) Drosophila

melanogaster with vestigial wings. (C) Drosophila melanogaster
yellow body mutant.

To test the null hypothesis, that states that
there is no real difference between the
observed and the expected data, Chi- square
(x2) is used. It is a statistical method, a
goodness- of- fit test. (Russell 2006)
Each tube bearing Drosophila had a culture
medium to feed the flies. It was comprised
of either mashed bananas or corn, and agar
to solidify. The tubes were covered with
clean cotton.

Materials and Methods Classifying the flies of the F1 : To better

Drosophila Stock: In the first laboratory
period, four tubes containing
melanogaster were handed. One of the
tubes, carried the parental strain for the
direct cross. In another tube was the first
generation for this cross. In a third tube was
the parental reciprocal cross. The last tube
contained the progeny for the second
parental cross.
handle the flies, they were anesthetized with
ether. This was done employing a small
D.
anesthetizing device. The cotton inside the
anesthetizer was saturated with ether. Once
this was done, the flies were transferred
quickly to the small chamber, while the
fumes exerted their effect on the flies.
After this, the flies were placed on a small
white paper card, to ease the classification
process. They were observed through a
dissecting microscope, sorted and counted.

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Afterwards, the flies were placed in their
corresponding tubes, leaving them in a
horizontal position while they were still
anesthetized, to avoid the Drosophila from
sticking to the culture medium. Flies that
had died in the process had their wings
extended to the back.
Classifying the flies of the F2 : Two weeks
later, in the second laboratory period, the
second generation for each parental strain
was observed. They were handled in the
same manner as in the first laboratory
period, sorted and counted.
Results
The targeted problem was to
determine the pattern of inheritance
for vestigial wings and yellow body.
Based on the hypothesis, the relative
frequencies for phenotype were
found, using Punnett square and
Mendelian genetics. For the direct
cross this frequency was 6: 2: 6: 2
(Table 2). Likewise, the frequency
for the reciprocal cross was
determined, which was 9: 3: 3: 1
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Statistical Analysis: Subsequently, the chi
square value was found, making use of the
following equation,
Ʃ (O- E)2/ E
Where O equals the number of observed
individuals for a characteristic and E is the
number of expected individuals for that
characteristic.
Using a table of X2 and P value, the
goodness of fit for our hypothesis was
determined, and whether the deviation of the
expected from the observed is significant.
(Table 3). This was done for the
direct cross and for the reciprocal
cross. The chi square was also found,
to determine if the hypothesis was a
goodafita(Tablea4). After, the p
value for each cross was found,
using the Chi Square and p value
table. These values were: 0.20< P <
0.10 and P < 0.001, for direc and
reciprocalacross,arespectively.
 Table 2: Expected genotypes and relative frequencies for the dihybrid direct cross.
(A) Genotype for the parental strain. (B) Genotype for the first generation. (C) Expected
genotypes for the second generation. (D) Expected phenotypes for the second generation.

Direct Cross
(A) Generación P1: Xf Xf ABAB
XF Y AbAb

(B) Generación F1: XF Xf ABAb

Xf Y ABAb

(C) Generación F2:

XfAB XfAb YAB YAb
XFAB XFXf ABAB XFXf ABAb XFY ABAB XFY ABAb
XFAb XFXf ABAb XFXf AbAb XFY ABAb XFY AbAb
XfAB XfXf ABAB XfXf ABAb XfY ABAB XfY ABAb
XfAb XfXf ABAb XfXf AbAb XfY ABAb XfY AbAb

(D) Phenotype frequencies: 6:2:6:2

Yellow/Normal wings: Yellow/Vestigial wings: Wildtype: Normal color/Vestigial wings

Table 3: Expected genotypes and relative frequencies for the dihybrid reciprocal
cross. (A) Genotype for the parental strain. (B) Genotype for the first generation. (C)
Expected relative frequencies for genotype and phenotype for the second generation. D)
Expected phenotypes for the second generation.

Reciprocal Cross
(A) Generación P: XF XF AbAb
Xf Y ABAB
(B) Generación F1: XF Xf ABAb
XF Y ABAb

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(C) Generación F2:
XFAB XFAb YAB YAb
XFAB XFXF ABAB XFXF ABAb XFY ABAB XFY ABAb
XFAb XFXF ABAb XFXF AbAb XFY ABAb XFY AbAb
XfAB XFXf ABAB XFXf ABAb XfY ABAB XfY ABAb
XfAb XFXf ABAb XFXf AbAb XfY ABAb XfY AbAb

(D) Phenotype frequencies: 9:3:3:1

Wildtype: Normal color/Vestigial wings: Yellow/Normal wings: Yellow/Vestigial wings

Table 4: Chi- square table. Describes the data in terms of expected and observed
individuals.
Phenotype Observed Expected (O- E)2 (O- E)2/E
Wildtype 80 64.125 252.0156 3.9301
Vestigial wings 16 21.3750 28.8906 1.8057
Yellow body 63 66.38 11.4244 0.1721
Direct Vestigial wings, yellow 12 21.3750 87.8906 4.1118
body
Total 5.9079
P value .20< P <.10
Wildtype 141 105.75 1242.5625 11.7501
Vestigial wings 14 35.25 451.5625 12.8103
Reciprocal Yellow body 31 35.25 18.0625 0.5827
Vestigial wings, yellow 2 11.75 95.90 8.1617
body
Total 32.7804
P value P < 0.001

Discussion in which the expected phenotypic ratio for

The P value for the direct cross was 0.20< P
< 0.10, which means that the deviation of
the observed from the expected is not
significant; therefore, the hypothesis is not
rejected. This was true for the direct cross,
the F2 was 6:2:6:2 (Table 2).
For the F2 in the reciprocal cross, the
expected phenotypic ratio was 9:3:3:1
(Table 3). After determining the Chi Square
value, the table of Chi square and P value

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was used to find the P value. , which was P
< 0.001. This suggests that the deviation in
the observed is significant; the hypothesis
should have been rejected.
It is known for a fact, thanks to scientific
literature, that the inheritance pattern for
vestigial wings and yellow body is
autosomal recessive and sex- linked
recessive, respectively. What is the possible
reason for this discrepancy? The problem
might lie in the classification process.
Mistakes while classifying the flies
influenced the final result. Another reason
why the result may have deviated from what
is known is that the sample size was too
large and was not equal for both crosses.
Conclusion
For future studies, to reduce the possibility
of error, other ways for better distinguishing
the mutation from the wildtype should be
found. The sample size should be fixed; this
is to prevent having a sample that is too
Literature Cited
Reiter L. T., E. Bier (2002). Using
aaDrosophila melanogaster to
aauncover human disease gene
aafunction and potential drug target
aaproteins. PubMed, 6(3), 387 -99.
7|Page
large, and to evaluate both crosses under the
same circumstances.
The importance of this experiment is, that by
studying mutations in Drosophila, not only
for yellow body and vestigial wings, but in
general, we are able to better understand
illnesses in humans. This is because 75% of
human genetic disease genes have clear
homologues in the fly (Reiter and Bier 2002).
Drosophila has been used as a model system
to study resistance to viruses (Teixeira et al.
2008). Another example is the use of
Drosophila melanogaster to study cancer,
namely gastrointestinal tumors, and find
treatments for this sickness. (Sérgia Velho et
al. 2010)
Although very small, Drosophila
melanogaster are very important genetically
speaking. Hence, studying Drosophila gives
us a way to increase our understanding of
human diseases and hopefully, in a near
future, find better treatments.
Russell, P.J. (2006). iGenetics: A
aaMolecular Approach. In S.
aaMinarcin (Ed.), Mendelian
aaGenetics (pp. 286- 288). San
aaFrancisco, CA: Pearson.
Teixeira L., Á. Ferreira, and
aaM. Ashburne (2008). The
aaBacterialSymbiont Wolbac
aahia Induces Resistance to
aaRNA Viral Infections
aain Drosophila
aamelanogaster. PubMed,
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Department of Mathematics
aaand Computer Science,
aaHobart and William Smith
aaColleges. Taken from
aahttp://math.hws.edu/javam
aath/ryan/Genetics1.html, on
aaOctober 13th, 2010.
Taken from
aahttp://nobelprize.org/nobel
8|Page
aaprizes/medicine/laureates/1
aa933/morgan-bio.html, on
aaOctober 13th, 2010.
Guía para el uso de
Drosphilaa(Personal
Communication)
Pérez-aChiesaaY.
Familiarizaciónacon
Drosophila melanogaster
(Personal Communication)