Larvae

Drosophila larvae provide a valuable model to identify genes required for locomotor behavior. Due to their relatively simplified nervous system, and innate aversion to light, larvae have proven particularly useful for linking behavior to defined neuronal circuits that specify behavior.

Larvae studies are often conducted in a Petri dish, multiwell plate or a similar controlled environment. The monitoring process relies on the ability to quantify changes in larvae activity during or in response to a task or a test stimulus. The movement pattern of the larvae is investigated to determine the influence of light, odor or other chemical/ sensory stimuli applied at a specific area in the dish. Typical parameters such as distance travelled, speed, turn angle and latency to zone are often recorded.

Analysing larvae locomotor activity using Actual products is easy, and ActualTrack: Fly Edition is designed specifically for analysing larvae movement. Single or multiple larvae in the test chamber are monitored with a video camera, mounted above the experimental multi-well plate or Petri dish, and is connected to a computer to record a video file. ActualTrack: Fly Edition software analyses the video file and utilises three-point larvae tracking (head, centre of mass, and end of abdomen) to identify the larvae within the test chamber and determine its position. Using ActualTrack: Fly Edition you can define regions for individual plate wells or Petri dish and accurately and automatically monitor entry of the larvae to regions based on the location of its head, centre of mass, and end of abdomen (or any combination thereof). With ActualTrack: Fly Edition, locomotor activity is also easily assessed and quantified in any user-defined region within the test arena.

What you need to perform larvae locomotor 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 infrared (IR) lighting for recording during the dark.

- Fly Larvae in a test chamber such as multi-well plate or Petri dish

- 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 larvae locomotor tests using ActualTrack: Fly Edition:

- Locomotor results: Distance travelled (cm), Average Speed (cm / s), Locomotor results for each zone defined for the test arena. Heading trajectory.

- Zone results based on larvae location within defined regions within the test arena: Time spent in each zone [s], Time spent in each zone [%], Latency to each first zone entry [s], Number of visits to each zone [n], Number of visits to each zone [%], First zone visited, Zone transitions & timings, Average time spent per visit to each zone, Heading trajectory

- 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: Fly Edition could help you achieve the results you need.