Neckameyer Wendi S, Bhatt Parag
Department of Pharmacological and Physiological Science, St Louis University School of Medicine, 1402 South Grand Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63104, USA.
Methods Mol Biol. 2016;1478:303-320. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-6371-3_19.
Drosophila melanogaster is an incredibly versatile organism capable of both innate and higher-order behaviors. These behaviors offer not only a way to assay whether or not the animal is physiologically compromised (e.g., feeding, locomotion), but also serve to assess changes in centrally mediated functions. Here we describe several high throughput, reproducible, yet inexpensive and facile behavioral assays for both larval and adult Drosophila. The larval assays all employ an agar substrate in a petri dish; the adult assays are grouped into "vial-based" and "arena-based" paradigms. While these protocols are largely designed to assess individual animals, they are sufficiently rapid that ample numbers can be tested to determine behavioral significance. Importantly, this also allows for one to control for reproductive status, age, and sex, since these factors all have a significant impact on adult behaviors. In general, it is best to designate a dedicated area for any assay, so that lighting conditions are consistent, and all animals should be tested at roughly the same time each day to minimize circadian fluctuations. Temperature and humidity should also be maintained at a constant level to minimize variability in the assays.
黑腹果蝇是一种极其通用的生物体，能够表现出先天行为和高阶行为。这些行为不仅提供了一种检测动物生理状态是否受损的方法（例如进食、运动），还用于评估中枢介导功能的变化。在这里，我们描述了几种针对果蝇幼虫和成虫的高通量、可重复、低成本且简便的行为检测方法。幼虫检测均在培养皿中使用琼脂基质；成虫检测分为“基于小瓶”和“基于竞技场”的范式。虽然这些实验方案主要设计用于评估个体动物，但它们速度足够快，可以测试大量个体以确定行为意义。重要的是，这也使得人们能够控制生殖状态、年龄和性别，因为这些因素都会对成虫行为产生重大影响。一般来说，最好为任何检测指定一个专用区域，以便光照条件一致，并且所有动物都应在每天大致相同的时间进行测试，以尽量减少昼夜节律波动。温度和湿度也应保持在恒定水平，以尽量减少检测中的变异性。
