title: Effect of deleterious mutations on life span in Drosophila melanogaster.
abstract: Evolutionary theories of aging assume that the accumulation of deleterious mutations will reduce life span. We tested this assumption in Drosophila melanogaster by a newly designed mating scheme, in which mutations accumulate on the Binscy balancer X chromosome in heterozygous females in the absence of selection and recombination. We found that the life span of Binscy/RY(L) males from this cross decreased faster than the life span of their sibling controls over time in two of three runs, and that there was an age-specific increase in mortality in the Binscy/RY(L) males with time in one of three runs. Therefore, the accumulation of deleterious mutations can decrease life span by increasing fragility and can cause age-specific changes in mortality. These results support the evolutionary theory of aging.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: James N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Woodruff
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster; D005260:Female; D008136:Longevity / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009026:Mortality; D009154:Mutation / Q000502:physiology*