Complementation Test

[Agronomy]

In the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, a large number of recessive mutations have been identified which reduce the size of the wings; vg(A) and vg(B) are two of them. These two mutant strains express an identical phenotype. Design an experiment to investigate if these two short-winged strains arise from mutations in the same or different genes.

I'm not really sure what to do, I know we would have to do a complementation test, and if they were on the same gene they'd be on the same allele, but I'm not really sure. Would someone be able to help me please?

[LilKim]

so the question is asking if a defect in one of the genes is causing the phenotype....or if another gene upstream of vg(a) or vg(b) is causing the phenotype .. or a completely independant gene is causing the phenotype

I'm not sure how to help you answer this question... without giving you the answer.

But complementation test generally involve re-introduction of WT genes into a mutant animal in a genetic screen-type scenario.

Let me know if you need more help... i'm just trying to give you a hint!
- kim

[Agronomy]

i'm still kind of confused, you can just give me the answer. I just need an explaination, i don't even really understand complementation testing