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Fig. 1 | Molecular Brain

Fig. 1

From: Positive geotactic behaviors induced by geomagnetic field in Drosophila

Fig. 1

Near-zero GMF potentiates the negative geotactic behaviors in flies. a Schematic drawing of the rectangular Helmholtz coil system used to regulate intensity or direction of three GMF vectors by active cancellation. b Left: Photo of the test cube used for the tube-positioning assay. Right: Imaginary drawing of geotactic positioning by the flies under the sham and shield (−) condition in the assay. The geotactic positioning score was calculated at the end point of the test using the following equation: (number of flies at the S2–S5 sections of the test tube equally divided into five imaginary sections/total number of flies) × 100 % (details in Methods). S, section; Sham, ambient GMF; Shield, near-zero GMF. Scale bar: 2 cm. c Negative geotactic positioning of fly strains in the shield (−) condition (n = 10 trials). Note the significance in all the strains. Error bars: SEM. **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.005; ****, P < 0.001 by Student’s t-test. d Time-course measurements of the positioning score in Canton-S flies under the sham and the shield (−) condition. ***, P < 0.005; ****, P < 0.001 by Student’s t-test. e Photo of the six-exit Y-maze used in the assay. For each experiment, 25 ± 2 flies were allowed to enter the maze through the entrance (details in Methods). f Exit profiles of the vertical choice Y-maze assay under the sham and shield (−) conditions (n = 12 trials). Note the significantly higher scores at the upper exits (1 and 3) under the shield condition compared to the sham condition. Error bars: SEM. *, P < 0.05 by Student’s t-test. g Schematic drawing of the cubic arena used for the free-flight assay (details in Methods). The geotactic flying score was calculated as the percentage of flies that flew to the upper section of the front plane. h Geotactic flying scores for the sham and shield (−) in the free-flight assay. Error bars: SEM. *, P < 0.05 by Student’s t-test (n = 15 trials)

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