Grape Agar Plates
| Reagent | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Agar | 12 g |
| H2O | 300 mL |
| Grape juice (Welch's or equivalent) | 100 mL |
| Sucrose | 5.35 g |
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1. Combine H2O and agar together in a microwave-safe flask, and heat until just boiling. Use caution not to boil over.
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2. Stop the microwave until the bubbles subside.
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3. Restart the microwave and heat until bubbles rise, watching carefully to stop before boiling over.
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4. Again, stop the microwave until bubbles subside.
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5. Repeat Steps 3 and 4 until the bubbles become large and the agar is dissolved.
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6. Meanwhile, heat the grape juice and sugar together until the sugar is dissolved.
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7. Combine the two solutions and pour into the lids of 35-mm Falcon Petri plates (see Protocol 1: Drosophila Late Embryonic through Late Larval Stage Body Wall Dissection: Dissection Tools and Techniques [Ashley and Carrillo 2024 Cold Spring Harb Protoc doi:10.1101/pdb.prot108499]).
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Pour such that there is a convex meniscus over the edge of the lid. This fills about 50 35-mm Petri dish lids.
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8. After cooling, store in a lidded container at 4°C until ready to use. These are stable up to 2 wk, but discard if agar begins to dry and pull away from the sides.
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Warm to room temperature before use in the egg-laying chamber.
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