Light Spot Assay: A Method to Investigate Drosophila Phototactic Behavior

Abstract

Source: Sun, Y., et al. Light Spot-Based Assay for Analysis of Drosophila Larval Phototaxis. J. Vis. Exp. (2019).

Drosophila larvae are light-sensitive and respond to changes in surrounding light. This video describes an assay that tests their ability to avoid light, called the light spot assay. The featured protocol demonstrates how to set up the assay with a blue light LED and shows how to record the animal's behavior in response to the light encounter.

Protocol

This protocol text is an excerpt from Sun et al., Light Spot-Based Assay for Analysis of Drosophila Larval Phototaxis, J. Vis. Exp. (2019). 1. Set-up of the imaging system Clamp a high-resolution web camera with an iron clip, at about 10 cm above the light spot on the desktop (Figure 1). Adjust the orientation of the camera lens towards the desktop. Connect the camer…

Representative Results

Figure 1: Experimental set-up. (A) Schematic representation of the set-up for the light spot-based larval fast phototaxis assay. The blue lines represent the paths of visible light used as visual stimulation, and the red lines represent the paths of infrared light. Arrows indicate the direction of the light. The 850 nm band-pass filter allows infrared light to pass, but it blocks visible light. (<str…

Materials

850 nm ± 3 nm infrared-light-generating LED	Thorlabs, USA	PM100A	Compatible Sensors: Photodiode and Thermal Optical Power Rangea: 100 pW to 200 W Available Sensor Wavelength Rangea: 185 nm-25 μm Display Refresh Rate: 20 Hz Bandwidth: DC-100 kHz Photodiode Sensor Rangeb: 50 nA-5 mA Thermopile Sensor Rangeb: 1 mV-1 V
AC to DC converter	Thorlabs, USA	S120VC	Aperture Size: Ø9.5 mm Wavelength Range: 200-1100 nm Power Range: 50 nW-50 mW Detector Type: Si Photodiode (UV Extended) Linearity: ±0.5% Measurement Uncertaintyc: ±3% (440-980 nm), ±5% (280-439 nm), ±7% (200-279 nm, 981-1100 nm)
band-pass filter	Thorlabs, USA	DC2100	LED Current Range: 0-2 A LED Current Resolution: 1 mA LED Current Accuracy: ±20 mA LED Forward Voltage: 24 V Modulation Frequency Range: 0-100 kHz Sine Wave Modulation: Arbitrary
Collimated LED blue light	ELP, China	USBFHD01M	Max. Resolution: 1920×1080 F6.0 mm Sensor: 1/2.7" CMOS OV2710
Compact power meter console	Ocean Optics, USA	USB2000+(RAD)	Dimensions: 89.1 mm x 63.3 mm x 34.4 mm Weight: 190 g Detector: Sony ILX511B (2048-element linear silicon CCD array) Wavelength range: 200-850 nm Integration time: 1 ms – 65 seconds (20 seconds typical) Dynamic range: 8.5 x 10^7 (system); 1300:1 for a single acquisition Signal-to-noise ratio: 250:1 (full signal) Dark noise: 50 RMS counts Grating: 2 (250 – 800 nm) Slit: SLIT-50 Detector collection lens: L2 Order-sorting: OFLV-200-850 Optical resolution: ~2.0 nm FWHM Stray light: <0.05% at 600 nm; <0.10% at 435 nm Fiber optic connector: SMA 905 to 0.22 numerical aperture single-strand fiber
High-Power LED Driver	Minhongshi, China	MHS-48XY	Working voltage: DC12V Central wavelength: 850nm
high-resolution web camera	Thorlabs, USA	MWWHL4	Color: Warm White Correlated Color Temperature: 3000 K Test Current for Typical LED Power: 1000 mA Maximum Current (CW): 1000 mA Bandwidth (FWHM): N/A Electrical Power: 3000 mW Viewing Angle (Full Angle): 120° Emitter Size: 1 mm x 1 mm Typical Lifetime: >50 000 h Operating Temperature (Non-Condensing): 0 to 40 °C Storage Temperature: -40 to 70 °C Risk Groupa: RG1 – Low Risk Group
LED Warm White	Mega-9, China	BP850/22K	Ø25.4(+0~-0.1) mm Bandwidth: 22±3nm Peak transmittance:80% Central wavelength: 850nm±3nm
Spectrometer	Noel Danjou	Amcap9.22	AMCap is a still and video capture application with advanced preview and recording features. It is a Desktop application designed for computers running Windows 7 SP1 or later. Most Video-for-Windowsand DirectShow-compatible devices are supported whether they are cheap webcams or advanced video capture cards.
Standard photodiode power sensor	Super Dragon, China	YGY-122000	Input: AC 100-240V~50/60Hz 0.8A Output: DC 12V 2A
Thermal power sensor	Thorlabs, USA	M470L3-C1	Color: Blue Nominal Wavelengtha: 470 nm Bandwidth (FWHM): 25 nm Maximum Current (CW): 1000 mA Forward Voltage: 3.2 V Electrical Power (Max): 3200 mW Emitter Size: 1 mm x 1 mm Typical Lifetime: 100 000 h Operating Temperature (Non-Condensing): 0 to 40 °C Storage Temperature: -40 to 70 °C Risk Groupb: RG2 – Moderate Risk Group
Thermal power sensor	Thorlabs, USA	S401C	Wavelength range: 190 nm-20 μm Optical power range:10 μW-1 W(3 Wb) Input aperture size: Ø10 mm Active detector area: 10 mm x 10 mm Max optical power density: 500 W/cm2 (Avg.) Linearity: ±0.5%