Drosophila activity monitoring

Drosophila, also known as the fruit fly, is a popular lab animal, used in several kinds of set-ups. EthoVision XT is a valuble addition in any of them. 

• Track up to 96 Drosophila simultaneously, each in their own well of a well plate.
• The Tower Filiming System provides a steady and fixed positioning of the well plate: no additional set-up or arena definition time in between tests.
• Reliably track Drosophila under different light conditions.
• Accurately measure several parameters related to the pathway the animal is taking towards the goa zone, such as path shape, length, and velocity.

Introduction
Drosophila, commonly known as the fruit fly, is a popular experimental animal because it has the advantage to readily mate, quickly reproduce, and easily create and establish new mutant strains. As several of the human disease genes have a recognizable match in the genetic code of Drosophila , they are used in a broad range of disciplines, including cell biological, biochemical, and developmental biology, as well as in neuropharmacological and behavioral research. Main topics in behavioral studies are memory, (olfactory) learning, and circadian rhythmicity. The ease of gene mutation allows for behavioral screens to isolate genes involved in vision, audition, learning, memory, pain, and other processes.

EthoVision® XT is ideal for the accurate activity monitoring of Drosophila, whether you are testing the movement patterns in Drosophila larvae in Petri dishes or using high throughput tracking of their activity in a 96-well plate. The Noldus Tower Filming System ensures a steady and reliable alignment of the camera and the well plate. If you are using Petri dishes, a stand with a camera and a light box provides backlighting that complements the software perfectly to form a complete solution.

How it works
The camera is positioned straight above the well plate or Petri dish and sends images to the computer running EthoVision XT, which in turn tracks and analyzes the activity of the flies or larvae. The light box underneath the plate or dish assures an even spread of light for a clear view. No shadowing occurs, so even when you are tracking in 96 wells simultaneously, each one of your animals will be accurately tracked. The rigid stand of the Tower Filming System eliminates distortion, even when people move around it. It also contains a blackout bellows to filter out light from external sources, and a light box with normal and infrared (IR) light, to suit different kinds of set-ups.

Research on activity of Drosophila in a 96 well plate typically focuses on general activity, patterns of movement, and rhythmicity. With EthoVision XT, you can perform high throughput testing, since you are able to track each larvae in its own well simultaneously. You can easily define each well as a separate arena and copy the setting from one well to the next. Because the positioning of the well plate in the Tower Filming System, you only need to do this once and then simply replace the plates throughout your experiment. The EthoVision XT software provides useful parameters such as distance moved, velocity, and percentage of time moving. With the intuitive data selection possibilities, you can easily compare results between larvae treated with different chemicals or between wild-type versus specific mutant strains.

Studies focusing on Drosophila, or their larvae in Petri dishes or other similar environments, often investigate the influence of odor or other chemicals. Usually, the chemical of interest is dropped at a specific point. With EthoVision XT you can define this area as a zone of interest and use this for data analysis. While the insect maneuvers across the dish, parameters such as turn angle, meander, distance moved, and velocity changes along the path may be of interest. Comparisons between consecutive trials, or between different strains are again easily made using the elaborate data selection and analysis options EthoVision XT offers.

Besides accurate analysis of different variables, you can also visualize your data. Display the video, tracks, and parameter values in one synchronized, dynamic view to get a good feel for your data. For each parameter, statistics such as the mean, frequency, and standard deviation are available. EthoVision XT also offers export options for further analysis with statistical packages.