Abstract

Microfluidic Platform for Feeding And Simultaneous Activity Monitoring of Drosophila

Deepak Choudhury, Research Scientist, Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology

Feeding is the one of the most common behaviour among living beings from mammals to single cell organisms. The foraging strategies and choices of food have been studied intensively in various species. The molecular and behavioural mechanism driving the feeding behaviours however is still unclear. Drosophila melanogaster has been widely used as model for biological studies for well over a century. We have developed a novel microfluidics chip based platform to study flies feeding behaviour. The microfluidic channel is designed to feed a miniscule meal size on average. Two channels have been integrated into one behaviour chamber, where the fly activity is continuously monitored. The platform allows to probe into several basic Drosophila behaviours, namely, walking, sleeping, foraging and feeding simultaneously. The chip holders, panel holder and camera make up the necessary assay system. The system is suitable for high-throughput assays, where up to 30 flies can be monitored simultaneously. Entire system was accommodated inside the incubator, which control light, temperature, and humidity. An in-house GUI MATLAB program has been developed to analyze the height of fluid in the channel and location of Drosophila. Since our assay can control the food given to the flies, one can control dose, concentration and time of drug delivery to Drosophila through its gastrointestinal tract. With all the benefits mentioned, this device would be useful in many areas including drug screening, feeding disorders and sleep studies.