Abstract
Although the Drosophila visual system has been described extensively, little is known about its olfactory system. A major reason for this discrepancy has been the lack of simple, reliable means of measuring response to airborne chemicals. This paper describes a jump response elicited by exposing Drosophila to chemical vapors. This behavior provides the basis for a single-fly chemosensory assay. The behavior exhibits dose dependence and chemical specificity: it is stimulated by exposure to ethyl acetate, benzaldehyde, and propionic acid but not ethanol. Animals can respond repeatedly at short intervals to ethyl acetate and propionic acid. The response relies on the third antennal segments. To illustrate the use of this behavior in genetic analysis of chemosensory response, nine acj mutants defective in response are isolated (acj = abnormal chemosensory jump), and their responses to two chemicals are characterized. All of the acj mutants are normal in giant fiber system physiology, and two exhibit defects in visual system physiology.
Full text
PDF
Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Hall J. C. Genetics of the nervous system in Drosophila. Q Rev Biophys. 1982 May;15(2):223–479. doi: 10.1017/s0033583500004844. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Harris W. A. The maxillae of Drosophila melanogaster as revealed by scanning electron microscopy. J Morphol. 1972 Dec;138(4):451–456. doi: 10.1002/jmor.1051380405. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Helfand S. L., Carlson J. R. Isolation and characterization of an olfactory mutant in Drosophila with a chemically specific defect. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Apr;86(8):2908–2912. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.8.2908. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jallon J. M. A few chemical words exchanged by Drosophila during courtship and mating. Behav Genet. 1984 Sep;14(5):441–478. doi: 10.1007/BF01065444. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Monte P., Woodard C., Ayer R., Lilly M., Sun H., Carlson J. Characterization of the larval olfactory response in Drosophila and its genetic basis. Behav Genet. 1989 Mar;19(2):267–283. doi: 10.1007/BF01065910. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tanouye M. A., Wyman R. J. Motor outputs of giant nerve fiber in Drosophila. J Neurophysiol. 1980 Aug;44(2):405–421. doi: 10.1152/jn.1980.44.2.405. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Thomas J. B., Wyman R. J. A mutation in Drosophila alters normal connectivity between two identified neurones. Nature. 1982 Aug 12;298(5875):650–651. doi: 10.1038/298650a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Thomas J. B., Wyman R. J. Mutations altering synaptic connectivity between identified neurons in Drosophila. J Neurosci. 1984 Feb;4(2):530–538. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.04-02-00530.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tompkins L. Genetic analysis of sex appeal in Drosophila. Behav Genet. 1984 Sep;14(5):411–440. doi: 10.1007/BF01065443. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Woodard C., Huang T., Sun H., Helfand S. L., Carlson J. Genetic analysis of olfactory behavior in Drosophila: a new screen yields the ota mutants. Genetics. 1989 Oct;123(2):315–326. doi: 10.1093/genetics/123.2.315. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]