Genetic mapping and phenotypic analysis of shotH.3.2 in Drosophila melanogaster

Fly-CURE, a multi-institutional CURE using Drosophila, increases students' confidence, sense of belonging, and persistence in research

The Fly-CURE is a genetics-focused multi-institutional Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) that provides undergraduate students with hands-on research experiences within a course. Through the Fly-CURE, undergraduate students at diverse types of higher education institutions across the United States map and characterize novel mutants isolated from a genetic screen in Drosophila melanogaster. To date, more than 20 mutants have been studied across 20 institutions, and our scientific data have led to eleven publications with more than 500 students as authors. To evaluate the impact of the Fly-CURE experience on students, we developed and validated assessment tools to identify students' perceived research self-efficacy, sense of belonging in science, and intent to pursue additional research opportunities. Our data, collected over three academic years and involving 14 institutions and 480 students, show gains in these metrics after completion of the Fly-CURE across all student subgroups analyzed, including comparisons of gender, academic status, racial and ethnic groups, and parents' educational background. Importantly, our data also show differential gains in the areas of self-efficacy and interest in seeking additional research opportunities between Fly-CURE students with and without prior research experience, illustrating the positive impact of research exposure (dosage) on student outcomes. Altogether, our data indicate that the Fly-CURE experience has a significant impact on students' efficacy with research methods, sense of belonging to the scientific research community, and interest in pursuing additional research experiences.

The I.3.2 developmental mutant has a single nucleotide deletion in the gene centromere identifier

The mutation I.3.2 was previously identified in a FLP/FRT screen of chromosome 2R for conditional growth regulators. Here we report the phenotypic characterization and genetic mapping of I.3.2 by undergraduate students participating in Fly-CURE, a pedagogical program that teaches the science of genetics through a classroom research experience. We find that creation of I.3.2 cell clones in the developing eye-antennal imaginal disc causes a headless adult phenotype, suggestive of both autonomous and non-autonomous effects on cell growth or viability. We also identify the I.3.2 mutation as a loss-of-function allele of the gene centromere identifier ( cid ), which encodes centromere-specific histone H3 variant critical for chromosomal segregation.

Genetic mapping of Uba3 O.2.2 , a pupal lethal mutation in Drosophila melanogaster

An EMS mutagenesis screen was conducted in Drosophila melanogaster to identify growth control mutants. The multi-institution Fly-CURE consortium phenotypically characterized the O.2.2 mutant using the FLP/FRT system which displayed a mutant lethal phenotype with reduced head development, and darkened ocular tissue. Complementation mapping was conducted to identify the affected gene. A failure to complement was identified in Uba3 , resulting in the identification of the novel allele, Uba3 ^O.2.2 . Uba3 is a known disruptor of the cell cycle and our data are consistent with early larval/embryonic lethality displayed in numerous species.