# fruit fly size from inbreeding



## stevendart14 (Feb 21, 2005)

I was going through some websites and found one that was breeding wild fruit flys and documented that after a few generations the flies started to become smaller and of course a few mutated. I wonder if we keep breeding our already mutated fruit flies do they become smaller due to the ever shrinking gene pool. Just my thoughts


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## geckguy (Mar 8, 2004)

I touched on this topic a few threads down, and that is why I always try to mix cups of flies to add to the genetic pool, as I have noticed decreased size and productivity after several months of making cultures from only one cup, so the flies are becoming more inbreed with every generation.


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## stevendart14 (Feb 21, 2005)

At first I didn't think that fruit flies would have a problem with genetic diversity but when you think about it if you have 20 adult flies in the jar to start out with many of them is most likely related. So them having babies would still have less than 20 unrelated bloodlines. And to think many people just worry about frog inbreeding.


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## christina hanson (Feb 16, 2004)

It seems odd to me that size of the entire population would be affected. If you are using a cooked fly media, try adding some mango puree to part of a batch and see if it may help. I don't have an amount to suggest, but try replacing whatever fruit base you are using.

Christina


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## Scott (Feb 17, 2004)

I've been using the same line of ffs now for 8 years.

Matter of fact I got them from Christina way back then.

No shrinkage.

s


stevendart14 said:


> I was going through some websites and found one that was breeding wild fruit flys and documented that after a few generations the flies started to become smaller and of course a few mutated. I wonder if we keep breeding our already mutated fruit flies do they become smaller due to the ever shrinking gene pool. Just my thoughts


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## stevendart14 (Feb 21, 2005)

8 years, maybe inbreeding isn't that much of a factor in fruit fly production.


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## bbrock (May 20, 2004)

Scott said:


> I've been using the same line of ffs now for 8 years.
> 
> Matter of fact I got them from Christina way back then.
> 
> ...


Ditto for me except mine came for EDs. My guess is that these flies are pretty much like genetic clones already so they probably can't get anymore inbred than they already are.


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## Arklier (Mar 1, 2004)

Remember that all flightless fruit flies have been bred and inbred for thousands of generations. The flies I see flying around rotting fruit look about the same size to me.


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## andersonii85 (Feb 8, 2004)

Sometimes I will let my cultures run for a few months (ah, laziness) and as the medium shrinks so do the flies. We used to stunt fruit flies by using less medium in the cups in genetics lab. 

Justin


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