Effects of varying CO2 exposure time on the recovery of wild-type Oregon-R and mutant <i>ort1 Drosophila melanogaster</i>
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine how time of exposure to CO2 affected the recovery time of wild-type and ort1 Drosophila melanogaster. Previous studies have suggested that mutant D. melanogaster take a longer time to recover from CO2 exposure compared to the wild-type. In order to test the effects of CO2 exposure on recovery time in both wild-type and ort1 D. melanogaster, we had exposure times of 80 seconds, 200 seconds and 320 seconds. Each treatment consisted of 10 replicates of wild-type or ort1 D. melanogaster (the wild type was the control). After D. melanogaster were exposed to CO2 for the designated treatment time, individual flies were transferred to separate vials where they were monitored for movement and once movement occurred, that recovery time was recorded. In all three treatments, mutant ort1 had a statistically significant longer mean recovery time than the wild type (p value = 1.5 x 10-5). As the treatment time increased, the observed recovery time for both mutant ort1 and wild-type D. melanogaster also increased.
