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bioRxiv · 10.1101/145888

Persistent one-way walking in a circular arena in Drosophila melanogaster Canton-S strain

Xiao, C.·Qiu, S.·Robertson, R. M.
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Abstract

We describe persistent one-way walking of Drosophila melanogaster in a circular arena. Wild-type Canton-S adult flies walked in one direction, counter-clockwise or clockwise, for minutes, whereas white-eyed mutant w1118 changed directions frequently. Locomotion in the circular arena could be classified into four components: counter-clockwise walking, clockwise walking, nondirectional walking and pausing. Genetic analysis revealed that while wild-type genetic background was associated with reduced directional change and reduced numbers of one-way (including counterclockwise and clockwise) and nondirectional walks, the white (w+) locus promoted persistent oneway walking by increasing the maximal duration of one-way episodes. The promoting effect of w+ was further supported by the observations that (1) w+ duplicated to the Y chromosome, (2) four genomic copies of mini-white inserted on the autosomes, and (3) pan-neuronal overexpression of the White protein increased the maximal duration of one-way episodes, and that RNAi knockdown of w+ in the neurons decreased the maximal duration of one-way episodes. These results suggested a pleiotropic function of w+ in promoting persistent one-way walking in the circular arena.

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Xiao, C., Qiu, S., Robertson, R. M.. 2017-06-04. Persistent one-way walking in a circular arena in Drosophila melanogaster Canton-S strain. https://doi.org/10.1101/145888

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