ANALYSIS OF COURTSHIP BEHAVIOR AS A PARAMETER OF TOXICITY OF ETHYL METHANESULFONATE (EMS) IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

An anti-cancerous drug and a monofunctional alkylating agent, Ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS), was tested for its toxic effects by using courtship behavioral elements as the parameter in Drosophila melanogaster. EMS concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 15mM were employed by larval feeding technique to analyze the effect. When the different combinations of crosses were performed, the results have revealed that there were no qualitative differences between the control and treated groups. However, quantitatively, it has shown that male courtship elements such as orientation, tapping, wing vibration and licking were significantly prolonged compared to controls. Similar results were observed in case of female rejection behavior elements namely: ignoring, extruding and decamping. On par with this, even the courtship latency and copulation latency were significantly increased and contrary to these, copulation duration was significantly decreased, thus suggesting that the treated males were less vigor; treated females were less receptive on one hand and on the other lower reproductive fitness. Drastic effects of EMS on mating behavior prove that this can be utilized as a parameter for assessing the toxic effects of chemicals.