Fecundity and life span in transgenic Drosophila melanogaster overexpressing hsp70

In the present study, we investigated the effect of hsp70 overexpression on some life history components in transgenic fruit flies. We measured life span in mated flies and fecundity in flies subjected or not subjected to a heat shock inducing hsp70. Heat shock increased life span of the parental line, but not of the transgenic lines. Genetic manipulation of the flies altered their fecundity, but the heat shock had no effect on fecundity. To conclude, we have observed some costs of genetic manipulation by itself on life span and fecundity. However, the overexpression of the hsp70 extra copies by the exposure to heat did not alter the studied variables.