drosophila

Dictionary: dro·soph·i·la (drō-sŏf'ə-lə, drə-) pronunciation

n.
Any of various small fruit flies of the genus Drosophila, especially D. melanogaster, used extensively in genetic research.

[New Latin Drosophila, genus name : Greek drosos, dew + New Latin -phila, feminine of -philus, -phile.]

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: drosophila

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Any member of about 1,000 species in the dipteran genus Drosophila, commonly known as fruit flies but also called vinegar flies. Some species, particularly D. melanogaster, are used extensively in laboratories for experiments on genetics and evolution because they are easy to raise and have a short life cycle (less than two weeks at room temperature). More data have been collected concerning the genetics of Drosophila than for any other animal. In the wild, its larvae live in rotting or damaged fruits or in fungi or fleshy flowers.

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WordNet: drosophila

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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: small fruit fly used by Thomas Hunt Morgan in studying basic mechanisms of inheritance
Synonym: Drosophila melanogaster

Learn More

	chromocenter (cell and molecular biology)
	Drosophilidae (invertebrate zoology)
	ectopic pairing (cell and molecular biology)

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		Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. Read more