Author Archives: Kamali Mitchell

Mentors: Melissa Sican, B.S. and Janice Crawford, Ph.D

Dorsal closure plays a salient role in morphogenesis in Drosophila species, and it is characterized by the elongation and movement of epidermal cell sheets to close a dorsal hole. Closure happens during embryogenesis and is reliant on cell sheets closing the dorsal hole that is filled with amnioserosa cells. As the epidermal cells- cells on the surface of the embryo- begin to move closer to each other, the aminoserosa cells apoptose allowing for the cell sheets to enter a continuous epithelium. The study of dorsal closures may appear to be obscure, but the process of dorsal closure has mechanics similar to muscle contraction, where myosin and actin are present in both processes allowing for neural tube closures, heart formation, and palate closures to be studied through the embryogenesis of the model species. After a failed complementation of a mutation to an already identified deficiency, Df(2R)ES1, using established mutant lines in observed heavy chain genes, the Kiehart lab went on to further identify mutations that may cause said failure with one of the mutations being the zipper (zip) allele. So, this project focuses on imaging Drosophila embryogenesis of homozygous zip embryos to see the effect of zipper alleles on dorsal closure. 

In regards to zippers and Drosophila melanogaster, they both either fall into the category of things that annoy the everyday human being or the things that most people overlook in everyday life. Sure we know that zippers exist, but do we truly appreciate how helpful zippers are to most people? Do we take the time to admire how influential Drosophilidae species are to the advancement of science? I would assume that the answer to those questions is no. So, my project for this summer is to showcase the importance of zippers. In this case, zipper is the gene responsible for encoding the non-muscle myosin heavy chain allowing dorsal closures to occur in embryos. Dorsal closures are important because they allow embryogenesis to occur, so researching the alleles that allow dorsal closures to occur is beneficial.

My project is to investigate new zipper alleles and ‘pey’ alleles. The ‘pey’ alleles have mutations, but the location of said mutations are unknown and my job is to locate the mutations. My project also falls under the larger question, what is the function of myosin and how the heavy light chains and regulatory chains assist with forming myosin filaments. Although some of these alleles have been studied, with every new cross of drosophila genotypes there is new information to learn about drosophila genotypes and embryos.

This project is extremely fascinating as well because of how intricate my everyday tasks are. From imaging drosophila embryos to carefully collecting drosophila embryos to sorting the flies by sex, there is always the need to be meticulous. With that being said, I am excited to continue with this project and hopefully discover new information about zipper and ‘pey’ alleles.

This summer is not my first time working with Drosophila, or as many would say, fruit flies. From living in a big city that accumulates a lot of trash to working at a lab at Syracuse that researched the copulatory patterns of Drosophila, these flies are not new to me. Over the years I have become very fond of how complex flies are and how useful Drosophila species are to research.

I am currently working with the Kiehart Lab for this summer and I have learned so much after one week of orientation. Before starting the B-SURF program, I was scared about working with the flies in a more delicate matter. However, I will say that working on a project is more stressful than working with the flies themselves.

The project that I am a part of requires me to understand how myosin functions in embryo dorsal closures, how different genotypes impact the way that embryos are imaged, and how meticulous on has to be when sorting Drosophila and collecting their embryos. I am excited to be a part of important research, but I am also terrified. On my third day of orientation, I had to collect embryos (with the help of my mentor) and I had to identify dorsal closures as well. I failed miserably at identifying which embryos were going through dorsal closure, but it was at that moment that I knew that this summer is going to be filled with educational enrichment.

With that being said, I know that mistakes are inevitable, so I am going to put my best foot forward everyday in the lab. My goal is to get the best out of this summer. At the end of the summer, I am going to be confident in my ability to identify flies with Cy-O and TGC mutations and for that I am grateful for this opportunity to be a part of B-SURF and to meet the amazing people who are members of Duke’s amazing community.