Video Analysis System for Behavior and Activity Assessment of Fruit Flies in High-Throughput Studies

Authors

• G Salem
• J Krynitsky
• M Garmendia
• Y Pederson
• S Harbison
• M Jaime
• B Oliver
• T Pohida

Abstract

We present a novel monitoring system focused on advancing high-throughput automated activity assessment of Drosophila. Designed around the standard 96-well plate widely used in high-throughput studies, the video-based system reports on the activity of each fly within each well. The design is based on an innovative arrangement of 24 cameras that allows high-quality imaging of the wells despite the density of the 96-well plate. The system is compact with a small benchtop footprint that should facilitate scale-up to large studies employing multiple units. A Python-based control graphical user interface (GUI) has been developed with user-friendly options to enable researchers to set up experiments, specify 96-well plate contents, and view individual regions in the 96-well plate. Algorithms have been developed to quantify the time spent in the food region of the well as a measure of fly-food interaction, as well as to quantify the fly silhouette motion.

Scientific Focus Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences

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