The Genetics of Eye Color in Drosophila melanogaster

 

Carol Pollock

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 1989, Volume 10

Abstract

This exercise has been designed to help first-year biology students understand Mendelian inheritance. The pterin (red) eye pigments of wild type and mutant strains are separated using a simple paper chromatography system, and the patterns are analyzed to determine where the metabolic pathway is blocked in each mutant. Crosses of these strains are followed for two generations to provide data that students analyze to determine the mode of inheritance of each mutation, as well as the relationship between each mutant phenotype and the enzyme in the pathway which is affected by the mutation.

Keywords:  Drosophila, fruit fly, mutation, pterin, eye pigments, chromatography, Mendelian inheritance, metabolic pathway, Drosophila melanogaster

University of British Columbia (1988)