High-throughput fecundity measurements in Drosophila

Sci Rep. 2018 Mar 13;8(1):4469. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-22777-w.

Abstract

Fecundity is probably the most frequently studied fitness component in Drosophila. Nevertheless, currently used methods to measure fecundity are not well-suited for large-scale experiments, with many populations being assayed in parallel. Here we present a standardized pipeline to measure fecundity in many Drosophila population samples with substantially reduced hand on times. Using a high-contrast medium for egg laying, we developed a Java plug-in for ImageJ to quantify the number of eggs by image processing. We show that our method is fast and provides reliable egg counts.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Animals
  • Drosophila melanogaster / physiology*
  • Female
  • Fertility
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / methods*
  • Oviposition