Introduction: The objective of this lab was to study the trait of aldehyde oxidase (AO) in fruit flies. Aldehyde oxidase is responsible for catalyzing the oxidation of many aldehydes. The aldox gene controls the amount of AO activity in Drosophila melanogaster. In the first part of the lab, an enzyme spot test will be performed on two different vials of Drosophila to exhibit the AO activity of both vial 1A and 1B. A positive test for AO test will present a blue color, while a negative test will present no reaction. The flies in vial 1A will demonstrate AO activity while the flies in vial 1B will show no AO activity. So if the flies from vial 1A turn blue after the assay test, then they have the enzyme for AO activity. If the flies from vial 1B present no color change, then they do not have the enzyme for AO activity. In the second part of the lab, the pattern of inheritance of the aldox gene will be determined, whether it is autosomal or sex-linked. The pattern of inheritance will be autosomal and the genotype of the parents will …show more content…
This means that all of the flies turned blue and proved they exhibited a positive AO activity. There was no difference between the results of the three males and the three females in the vial as they all presented positive for the gene. The Drosophila in 1b, which were all supposed to have no color change, all tested negative for AO activity. Like in vial 1a, there was no difference in results for the three males or the three females. In the second part of the lab, the spot assay test was performed on five random D. melanogaster from vial 2 to determine whether the enzyme was sex-linked or autosomal. The five males all tested positive for AO activity. Seven females were also taken from vial 2 and submitted to a spot assay test. All of the females presented positive for AO