Genetic Variation in Round-up Induced Mortality in Drosophila melanogaster

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The use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in many popular herbicides, has dramatically increased in the past decade. The use of this chemical is not well managed, and many studies have demonstrated the toxic effects on non-target organisms. Studies show that these pesticides affect animal behavior, reproduction, kidney, liver function, and increase their probability of developing cancer. In this study we compared the effects of glyphosate on two different strains of the fruit-fly model organism, Drosophila melanogaster. This comparison was done by housing 10 females and 10 males of one strain on organic medium for 7 days to allow mating. The flies were anesthetized with CO2, sexed, and single-sexed groups were transferred to treatments. Roundup® Super concentrate which also contains POEA as a surfactant was added to the medium at concentrations of 0, 2, 5, and 10 g glyphosate/L medium. The flies were counted after two days of exposure to record mortality rate. Five days after, for a total of 7 days, the final number of living flies was recorded. Comparing these two strains allowed us to observe similar mortality rates of Canton-s and Harwick when maintained on the same glyphosate concentrations. This concluded that the genetic variation between the strains does not affect glyphosate susceptibility. While there was no difference in glyphosate susceptibility between Canton-S and Harwick, the genetic basis for susceptibility is of interest. Current studies address the generational effect of Roundup® on Canton-S under direct selection for reduced Roundup® susceptibility