A system to efficiently maintain embryonic lethal mutations in the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum

Due to its small size, short life cycle, and easy maintenance, the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum is well suited for the genetic analysis of development. One drawback of Tribolium as a genetic system is, however, the difficulty of keeping embryonic lethal lines. Presently, only few lethal mutations can be kept as balanced stocks. Therefore, heterozygous carriers must be identified anew in every generation in order to maintain a recessive embryonic mutation. To alleviate this problem we have devised a block system that allows the simultaneous processing of many mutant lines or test crosses for visual inspection of larval cuticle phenotypes. Using this technique, one person can maintain about 100 embryonic lethal stocks, which makes feasible the thorough genetic analysis of embryogenesis in this species.