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Adult life span in Drosophila melanogaster populations selected for long and short developmental period

I.B.M. Da Cruz; J.C. Nascimento; S. M. Callegari-Jacques; A.K. Oliveira

Departamento de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Caixa Postal 15053, 91501-970 Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil. Fax: (051) 336-2011. Send correspondence to A.K.O.

ABSTRACT

The relationship between pre-imaginal developmental period and adult life span was studied in Drosophila melanogaster populations not-selected and selected for long (x = 386 h) and short (x = 226 h) developmental period during 433 and 650 generations, respectively. An opposite and statistically significant life span difference between sexes was observed in the selected populations. In the slow population, females showed a significantly longer life span while the males had the shortest longevity. Thus, a slight positive correlation was observed only in females of the slow population which however had decreased fecundity. This may account for their greater longevity. The apparently random results in backcrosses suggest that life span is a complex character and many factors such as nuclear and mitochondrial genes, sex, and physiological, ethological and environmental traits interact for its determination.

Keywords: adult life span; Drosophila melanogaster; populations; developmental period

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