Behavioral and biochemical effects of alcohol in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Drosophila, known as the fruit fly used in research as they share distinct homology to humans. The effects of alcohol on the fly has been an important area of research over the decades. The components in alcohol impact behavioral, metabolic, and sexual activity in humans. The metabolites of alcohol, acetaldehyde and acetate have been proved to induce carcinogenic effects. In this study, alcohols like distilled ethanol, undistilled ethanol, methanol, and isopropyl alcohol at 10%, 15%, and 25% concentrations were tested. The behavioral activities like RING, larval locomotor activity, sedation and tolerance were observed and the results were compared with the effects of the different alcohols. There have been many researches on the behavioral effects induced by alcohol but the comparative effects of different alcohol have not been studied. Alcohol-induced genetic alteration responsible for the behavior in the fly have been reported in earlier studies. Humans have natural tolerance towards alcohol, the sedation effect after exposure was different with an increase in amount of alcohol. The tolerance developed against alcohol was also significant. The amount of protein after acute exposure was determined.