Extra Practice Problems for Fly Genetic Analysis

I. Designing Fly Screens:

For all the questions, write down all the crosses, at which generation you will screen for mutant
phenotype, and what type of flies (males or females, and what phenotypes) you will screen.

Question 1: You want to identify genes on chromosome 2 that control the size of eyes in flies.
Flies can survive without eyes. You have balancers for chromosome 2: CyO (recessive lethal,
dominant curly wings) and DTS (dominant temperature sensitive).
Propose a screen:
Step 1: mutagenize males (+/+). This doesn't matter, but usually we mutagenize male. What are
the next steps?

Question 2: You want to identify genes on the X chromosome that control the size of the eyes
in flies. Flies can survive without eyes. You have balancers for the X chromosome: FM6, which
has dominant Bar eye phenotype, and FM0, which has dominant yellow body phenotype.
Propose a screen:
Step 1: mutagenize female (X+/X+) - This accelerates the screen step. What are the next steps?

Question 3: You want to identify maternal effect genes on chromosome 2 (for example, genes
that regulate mRNA deposition from mother's follical cells into eggs). Often time, when you
disrupt a maternal effect gene, the embryos will die during development.
Propose a screen:
Step 1: mutagenize males (+/+). This doesn't matter, but usually we mutagenize male. What are
the next steps?
Compare and contrast the three examples:
1) In which of the screens above, will you find mutants whose mutation is in non-essential
zygotic genes?
2) In which of the screens above, will you find mutants whose mutation is in X-linked
genes? In this case, should you mutagenize males or females?
3) In which of the screens above, will you find mutants whose mutation is in maternal effect
genes? What is the difference between this screen and the screen in question 1?

II. Dominant/Recessive test in flies

Assume that wildtype flies have brown bodies. You have a true-breeding mutant fly that makes
black body, b1 (both males and females are available). How would you determine if b1 is
dominant or recessive?

III. Complementation test in flies

In addition to b1, you also have a true-breeding mutant fly that makes black body, b2 (both
males and females are available). Begin with two true-breeding b1 and b2 flies, how would you
determine if b1 and b2 belong to the same complementation group?

How would you deduce the complementation groups if you have two heterozygous flies, one
heterozygous for b1 and the other, heterozygous for b2?

IV. Epistasis analysis in flies

You have a third true-breeding mutant that makes white body, w (both males and females are
available). You suspect that b1 and w act in a linear signaling pathway. How would you
determine which gene acts downstream? Begin with two true-breeding b1 and w. Write down all
the crosses that need to happen in order for you get to your conclusion.