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First published online August 31, 2004
Journal of Experimental Biology 207, 3515-3522 (2004)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2004
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01181

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Distance and force production during jumping in wild-type and mutant Drosophila melanogaster

Nina Zumstein, Oliver Forman^*, Upendra Nongthomba, John C. Sparrow and Christopher J. H. Elliott

Department of Biology, University of York, York, YO10 5YW, UK

View larger version (18K): [in a new window]   Fig. 1. Preparation for recording the force produced by the tergal depressor of trochanter (TDT) muscle. A glass needle was bonded to a strain gauge using shellac. Each fly was mounted on a tungsten needle mounted on a micromanipulator. Its tibia was set in line with the glass needle to which it was glued. Electrical stimuli were delivered to the giant fibre system by two tungsten needle electrodes in the neck or head. The contraction of the TDT causes the fused trochanter–coxa to press downwards against the strain gauge.

View larger version (21K): [in a new window]   Fig. 2. The distance jumped by Drosophila from which the wings had been removed. (A) Repeated jumps from seven individual Canton-S (CS) females. (B) Jumps from two wild-type strains [Canton-S (CS) and Texas (TX)] and two mutants: M18, which synthesises no octopamine, and hono, a null mutant of the tyr/oct receptor. Both mutants jump significantly less far (*P<0.001). Values are means ± S.E.M.

View larger version (10K): [in a new window]   Fig. 3. Force transients produced by the tergal depressor of trochanter (TDT) muscle in the two wild-type strains [Canton-S (CS) and Texas (TX)] and two mutant lines: M18 and hono. For each fly, the traces show responses to both sub-threshold and supra-threshold stimuli given at 1–5 s intervals. Scales: stimuli, 2 V; strain gauge output, 10 mV.

View larger version (14K): [in a new window]   Fig. 4. Mean peak force produced by the tergal depressor of trochanter (TDT) muscle in female flies. The peak force is significantly less in the M18 and hono mutants than in the Canton-S (CS) and Texas (TX) wild-type strains (*P<0.001). Values are means ± S.E.M.

View larger version (12K): [in a new window]   Fig. 5. Mean peak force from 42 measurements from six Canton-S (CS) flies as the angle between coxa and tibia was adjusted. The peak isometric force is constant at 100 µN from 75–120° and then declines to zero force at 160°. At this angle, it was hard to adjust the micromanipulators holding the fly without distortion of the joints, which accounts for the large standard error.