Genetic Dissection of the Drosophila melanogaster Larval Response to Light Measured in Two New Single Larva Assays

Abstract

In order to initiate a genetic dissection of the Drosophila melanogaster larval response to light, two new single larva assays were designed: the Checker and ON/OFF assays. Each assay allows quantification of different aspects of the larval visual response by permitting the study of discrete behaviours in a single larva. Results of this study indicate that larvae respond to light by modulating their locomotion. In the Checker assay this can be seen as an increase in residence time spent in dark checks. In the ON/OFF assay this can be measured as a decrease in distance travelled during the light pulse, due at least in part to an increase in head swinging. Concomitantly, the larva exhibits a sharp change in direction from its original path when the lights are turned on. When the lights are turned off, the change in direction in the larval path, although smaller than at lights on, is still greater than in the absence of light transitions. Many of the components previously described to function in adult phototransduction and visual system specification, also have roles in the larval photoresponse as mutations in the genes that encode these components, are able to abolish light perception as measured in both the Checker and ON/OFF assays. However, these mutations disrupt only subsets of the behaviours associated with the larval perception of light, thus suggesting the existence of light detecting mechanism independent of the main visual pathway described for the adult visual system.