Each period is set to 120 seconds, meaning that the flies are getting a total of 8 minutes of training. The flies are performing two initial pre-tests, one test after 4 minutes of training and two final test periods. For the entire duration of the experiments flies are given a color indication if they are being punished or not as a result of left or right turning, this is a composite learning control. For the final test periods the colors have been removed, meaning that we are isolating the operant component. This is different from the previous tests that has been done where flies were not challenged with colors but just relied on their own behavior to determine which side is being punished. A removal of the helping colors resulted in a lack of preference for left- or right-turning maneuvers.

Measured with two different light sources. 

Dissection light

Light in torque meter

Been working on 17d for the past month.

The experiments in the flight simulator. Self-learning performance indices in a two-minute test with the heat switched off after 4 and 8 minutes of training, indicated impairment of 17d-TNT flies.

The flies also showed clear impairments in their flight performance. To quantify this I assessed both possible alterations in their motor coordination (using climbing assay) as well as flight performance. The climbing assay relies on walking rather than flying. Both experiments show reduced ability of motor coordination and flight performance.

 

 

To confirm the specificity of the 17d-Gal4 fly I used the trans-tango flies.

 

The trans-tango is notorious for having a low expression in adult flies, which was also observed by me. The image is taking without any GFP-antibody.

Fussl was crossed with either Stinger (ctrl) or a UAS-TNT line to block the synaptric transmission of the Fussl positive neurons. A third construct was used but did not yield any data due to difficulties with their flight performance. The Fussl-Stinger along with Fussl-TNT flies do also show difficulties in flying. These differences will be assessed.

The experiment was done as a pilot experiment before doing a larger scale.

The data is a bit inconsistent but shows a positive and reassuring numerical difference. The control is a bit lower than expected, compared to WTB flies (showing usually a PI 0f 0.6). The flies have a slightly different background than wtb flies and have pale orange eyes (still no apparent impairments in vision). Further experiments will be conducted before proceeding with a larger sample size of the flies.

 

FoxP3955 flies were raised and compared to normal WTB flies. Reportedly, the Foxp mutants have a reduced flight performance as their total flight duration is decreased. This was also something I experienced. The problem seemed to be greater due to the heat in the flight simulator room, initial temperature was 27°C but increased to close to 30°C. I had troubles getting a large sample size enough (same number of Foxp and wtb were loaded into the flight simulator), heat-shock proteins and other stress-related behavior might be an issue. The genotype of the flies were known during the hooking of the flies but was later on concelead and flies were randomly distributed.  

PKG 2_descr_anal

wtb-rut-colorlearning

Replicated wild type berlin flies in the flight simulator

The results from wiltype Berlin flies in the flight simulator.