Courtship

The Drosophila Melanogaster courtship sequence represents the most complex innate behaviour of the fruit fly. The courtship process recruits a wide range of genes that control the nervous system to generate this behavior. Fruit fly mutants are frequently used to unravel the underlying neural networks that control courtship behavior.

The courtship assay is carefully set-up by utilizing one male and a virgin female. Both are placed into the test apparatus by gentle aspiration and relevant recordings are made for a set time interval to cover the copulation period. During this assay, various stimulatory sensory inputs that progress courtship behavior in male Drosophila can be manipulated and tested. Detailed and quantitative measurements of specific courtship events (orientation, tapping, licking, or attempting copulation) expressed during courtship sequence are recorded. Of particular interest is the courtship index (CI) which is a measurement of the fraction of the observed trial during which the male actively courts the female (or any other target).

Analysing fly courtship behaviour using Actual products is easy, and ActualTrack: Fly Edition is designed specifically for analyzing fly movement. Pairs of flies in the test chamber are monitored with a video camera, mounted above the experimental chamber, and is connected to a computer to record a video file. ActualTrack: Fly Edition software analyses the video file and tracks the position and orientation of each fly within the test chamber. With ActualTrack: Fly Edition, courtship activity, including the Courtship Index (following and orientating) is automatically calculated.

What you need to perform fly courtship experiments usingActualTrack: Fly Edition:

- Digital Camera: from standard digital video camera to professional digital High Definition cameras (to enhance resolution of very small flies). ActualTrack: Fly Edition can work with almost any common video format. See our recommended camera list for the most appropriate camera for your set-up.

- ActualCapture Software (optional) - enables easy direct recording of your experiment to a digital video file. This is recommended when you do not already have a camera and recording software. If you would like us to arrange and supply recording set-up, please contact us.

- Lighting: diffuse lighting from directly above or below,or infrared (IR) lighting for recording during the dark.

- A pair of adult flies and a test chamber such as multi-well plate (for multiple pairs of flies) or courtship chamber (single pair)

- A computer with a web browser and web access (see requirements for details).

- ActualTrack: Fly Edition software

Our tracking, scoring and video capture software can be easily optimised to a broad range of hardware and experimental set-ups to ensure the best possible conditions for your video analysis. If required, please contact us for recommendations and a list of preferred suppliers of hardware.

What you can analyse during fly courtship tests using ActualTrack: Fly Edition:

- Courtship Index (CI) - total duration courting, number of bouts, average bout duration

- Visualisations: Birds nest plot, heat map

- ActualScore functionality allows for integrated manual coding user defined behaviors

- All results are calculated automatically and provided in an easy to use CSV format which can be imported in to most statistical analysis packages for further investigation and graphical representation

- and much more...

For more information, see the product information, or get in touch to find out more about how ActualTrack: FlyEdition could help you achieve the results you need.