Jen Schaefer, Biology
The aim of this study was to attain footage of the crawling Drosophila larva from 360° angles in order to visualize the pattern of individual muscle contractions. A GAL4-UAS system was used to drive homozygous GCAMP expression, causing the muscles of the Drosophila larva to fluoresce when contracting. A stand was designed in order to place a live, crawling larva in a glass capillary tube under a fluorescent microscope and then rotate the tube completely for 360° video footage. Through the combination of the GCAMP expression and the rotatable stand, video of the individual muscle contraction pattern of a crawling Drosophila larva can be successfully attained and analyzed from all angles. Future research will identify the roles of specific interneuron populations in crawling through visualization of changes in the pattern of muscle contractions during crawling following interneuron knockout.
Decker, Mary Catherine, "Development of a system for analysis of muscle contraction pattern during Drosophila melanogaster crawling behavior" (2014). Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day. 2.