Age-related changes in nucleic acids and protein in Callosobruchus maculatus Fabr. (Coleoptera)

The mean life span of Callosobruchus maculatus male is 7 days and female is 5 days at 30 +/- 1 degrees C. Age-related study on C. maculatus shows that RNA and protein contents gradually decline with age in male bruchids, whereas in females initially these increase up to the second day of post-emergent life and subsequently decrease. DNA increases up to the third day in males and the fourth day in females representing post-emergent growth, and then declines sharply on the sixth day. The RNA and protein contents per unit DNA decrease steadily in males; however, in females both are highest during the first 2 days, which synchronizes the egg-laying peak. These observations have been found to be statistically significant (p less than 0.01) and suggest that aging is accompanied by a decrease in both RNA and protein synthesis potential.