Elementary Atlas of Drosophila melanogaster Mutations

Abstract

This is a short notice announcing the publication of an e-book by the Brazilian Society of Genetics (SBG) and reviewing it. The publication ("Elementary Atlas of Drosophila melanogaster Mutations") is a direct descendent of the computer program "Drosophila Viewer" (Otto, 2000a,b) which is still available at the author's internet site https://www.ib.usp. br/~otto/drosoview.html). The program was designed to run on Windows versions 3.1 and 95 and still works on Windows XP, but on modern PC computers with the latest versions of Windows it will run only when loaded into virtual partitions able to contain older versions of Windows.The contents of the e-book, like those of the program "Drosophila Viewer," with a focus on non-specialized audiences, should interest primarily students and professionals specialized in the teaching of Genetics.At approximately the same time the program "Drosophila Viewer" was produced, the internet online resources on Drosophila genetics, anatomy, development and molecular biology grew substantially, especially those from the FlyBase organization (http://flybase.bio.indiana.edu/), sponsored by the University of Indiana at Bloomington, Indiana. The FlyBase site houses an incredible number of files dedicated to the detailed, in-depth biology of Drosophila, including the excellent collection of photographs of classical phenotypic mutants by Holtzman and Kaufman (2013). The (also excellent) "Learning to Fly" poster by Childress et al. (2005) can also be accessed in the internet. The photos from this poster inspired many divulgation works of phenotypic mutations in the fly, such as the cornerstone 2013 book "Atlas of Drosophila Morphology," by Chyb and Gompel, with photographs obtained [just like the images of Holtzman and Kaufman (2013) and Childress et al. (2005)] by using state-of-the-art Leitz's Leica multifocal equipment and a careful setup of living flies with phenotypic mutations.In order to keep alive the graphic material from the "Drosophila Viewer" program and organize everything as an elementary Atlas on phenotypic mutations of Drosophila, the e-book was produced by working on all the original drawings used in the program and adding material obtained with permission from other sources, especially from Professors Thomas C. Kaufman (photos by Holtzman & Kaufman 2013