Abstract

Investigating the role of genes in Drosophila melanogaster, especially as it pertains to development, helps researchers understand the role and function of genes and genetic processes. The embryonic and larval stages are critical phases in the development of Drosophila, laying the groundwork for subsequent developmental stages. In these stages, many of the Halloween genes become active, as their job is to create growth hormones that allow for the development of flies. One of these Halloween genes, Spookier, has yet to be investigated for embryonic development. Spookier’s role in embryonic development was investigated using RNA interference (RNAi) induced knockout with the UAS/Gal4 system. The number of larvae offspring was used as a measure of embryonic development, where the number of larvae is the number of embryos that have successfully progressed through the embryo stage. RNAi of the Spookier gene was hypothesized to result in fewer larvae offspring, as the Spookier-produced growth hormones could no longer aid in development. Through a larvae quantity assay, the Spookier gene was found to play a statistically significant role in the development of embryos (p-value = .0472), but was not required for embryonic viability (p-value = .0494). While outside the scope of this study, the Spookier gene also seemed to play an important role in the development of embryos. 

Keywords: Embryonic Viability, Development, Halloween Genes, Spookier, Gene Regulation, RNAi, Gal4/UAS, Drosophila melanogaster