Definition

1. Noun:
   • A small fruit fly species used extensively in genetic research: Drosophila melanogaster is a specific type of small fly, commonly known as the common fruit fly or vinegar fly. It is a model organism in biological and genetic studies, famously used by scientists like Thomas Hunt Morgan to understand fundamental principles of inheritance, such as the chromosomal theory of heredity.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The laboratory maintains a large population of Drosophila melanogaster for genetic experiments.
  • Thomas Hunt Morgan's groundbreaking work with Drosophila melanogaster earned him a Nobel Prize.

Advanced Usage

• In scientific literature: The name is always written in italics, as it is a binomial (genus and species) scientific name. The genus () can be abbreviated to after its first full mention in a text.
  • Initial research was conducted on Drosophila melanogaster. Later experiments used D. melanogaster to confirm the findings.

Variants and Related Words

• Drosophila (n): The genus name, often used informally to refer to fruit flies in general, especially in a research context.
  • Several Drosophila species are found in tropical regions.
• Fruit fly (n): A common name for small flies of the family Drosophilidae, which includes .
• Model organism (n): A non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena.
  • The mouse and Drosophila melanogaster are both important model organisms.

Synonyms

• Common fruit fly
• Vinegar fly
• Banana fly (informal)

Related Phrases

• Wild-type *Drosophila melanogaster
  • The mutation was compared to the wild-type *Drosophila melanogaster.

Noun

1. small fruit fly used by Thomas Hunt Morgan in studying basic mechanisms of inheritance