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Updated: Jun 25, 2025
Measurement of Lifespan in Drosophila melanogaster
Published on: January 7, 2013
Two Old Wild-Type Strains of Drosophila melanogaster Can Serve as an Animal Model of Faster and Slower Aging
Lyudmila P Zakharenko1, Margarita A Bobrovskikh1, Nataly E Gruntenko1
1Department of Insect Genetics, Institute of Cytology and Genetics of the Siberian Branch, The Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090, Russia.
Background:
Drosophila melanogaster provides a powerful platform to study the physiology and genetics of aging, i.e., the mechanisms underpinnings healthy aging, age-associated disorders, and acceleration of the aging process under adverse environmental conditions. Here, we tested the responses of daily rhythms to age-accelerated factors in two wild-type laboratory-adapted strains, Canton-S and Harwich.
Methods:
On the example of the 24 h patterns of locomotor activity and sleep, we documented the responses of these two strains to such factors as aging, high temperature, carbohydrate diet, and diet with different doses of caffeine-benzoate sodium.
Results:
The strains demonstrated differential responses to these factors. Moreover, compared to Canton-S, Harwich showed a reduced locomotor activity, larger amount of sleep, faster rate of development, smaller body weight, lower concentrations of main sugars, lower fecundity, and shorter lifespan.
Conclusions:
It might be recommended to use at least two strains, one with a relatively fast and another with a relatively slow aging process, for the experimental elaboration of relationships between genes, environment, behavior, physiology, and health.
