QUARANTINE STOCKS

The following is a general outline of steps which should be followed when new stocks are brought into the lab. It is important that stocks go through the entire quarantine; procedure to prevent a mite infestation. To be safe, one should order stocks from Bloomington or Bowling Green Stock Center's whenever possible. Stocks should never be ordered from a lab known to have mites. If you don't know if a particular lab has mites, ask someone before you order it.

When handling quarantine stocks, it is a good idea to treat them as if there were mites present. Therefore, all stocks should be kept in vials with tight cotton plugs, not bottles. New vials should be set up shortly after the adults eclose, and most importantly, quarantine stocks must be kept isolated from all other stocks.

  1. New stocks must be brought directly to an isolated spot. Do not bring them near any lab stock.
  2. At a quarantine microscope, transfer the adults to a fresh vial (P0) and keep the original vial for a few days.
  3. When it is obvious that the P0 vial is going fine, discard the adults and the original vial.
  4. Shortly after the adults eclose from the P0 vial, transfer them to a fresh vial (F1).
  5. Keep the stock isolated for two more generations (F1 and F2).
  6. After you have set up the F2 vial, check the P0 vial for mites.
  7. When the adults eclose from the F2 vial, put them in a fresh vial and check the P0 and F1 vial for mites.
  8. If no mites are found, the stock may be taken out of quarantine.
  9. If mites are found at any time or suspected of being in a stock, transfer the adults from the suspect vial into a vial containing a Tedion strip (strips are made by soaking filter paper in a 0.5% (w/v) solution of Tedion in acetone and then allowed to air dry).
  10. Autoclave the old vial.
  11. Every two days, transfer the adults to a new vial containing Tedion and autoclave the old vial. Continue this for one week.
  12. Place adults in a new vial containing Tedion and follow steps 3-7 as outlined above. The only exception is that you allow two additional generations (F3 and F4) in isolation. 

The Curator of Drosophila Stocks
Dept. of Biology
Jordan Hall A503
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN  47405
(812) 855-5783
(812) 855-2577 (FAX)
Kathy Matthew, Curator (812) 855-5782

Mid-America Drosophila Stock Center
Dept. of Biological Sciences
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, OH  43403
(419) 372-2631

original text by Todd Laverty