Abstract
It has been shown repeatedly that numerous cumulative changes occur in chromosomes of D. melanogaster, as an effect of ageing which, especially in the homozygous state, significantly affect different fitness components of their carriers. It appears that the observed age-affected events are produced by systematic and ontogenetically programmed changes in genetic loads at specific chromosomes, which are transferable to following generations. It has been suggested that such changes could be of mutational origin, and that they cold be more frequent at gene loci which are epigenetically active during ontogenesis.
It was demonstrated that a large sample of identical chromosomes behave quite differently in the homozygous state when obtained from aged compared to non-aged parents, producing a significant decrease in relative viability, length of preadult development, and longevity of their carriers, as well as in the frequency of recombinations of corresponding chromosomes. A specfic treatment by streptomycin resulted in remarkably milder effects of ageing, which is in accordance with the statement of some authors that such a treatment may diminish the frequency of spontaneous recessive mutations in their carriers. Thus the observed age-affected changes could be an important source of developmental and evolutionary variation of living organisms.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andjelković, M., Marinković, D., Tucić, N. & Tošić, M., 1979. Age-affected changes in viability and longevity genetic loads of Drosophila melanogaster. Am. Naturalist 114: 915–920.
Bajraktari, I., 1978. Genetic changes during the ageing processes in Drosophila melanogaster. Acta biol. Iugosl. Genetika 10: 139–150.
Bajraktari, I., 1981. The influence of ageing on genetic changes in Drosophila melanogaster. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Belgrade.
Baker, B. S., Boyd, J. B., Carpenter, T. C., Green, M. M., Nguyen, T. D., Ripoll, P. & Smith, P. B., 1976. Genetic controls of meiotic recombination and somatic DNA metabolism in Drosophila melanogaster. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 73: 4140–4144.
Bayliss, F. T. & Ingraham, J. L., 1974. Mutation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae conferring streptomycin and cold sensitivity by affecting ribisome formation and function. J. Bacteriol. 118: 319–328.
Beardmore, J. A., Lints, F. A. & Al, Baldawi, L. F., 1975. Parental age and heritability of sternopleural chaeta number in Drosophila melanogaster. Heredity 34: 71–82.
Beardmore, J. A. & Shami, S. A., 1976. Parental age, genetic variation and selection. In: S., Karlin & E., Nevo (eds), Population genetics and ecology. Academic Press, New York.
Beardmore, J. A. & Shami, S. A., 1985. The Lansing effect and age-mediated changes in genetic parameters. Genetica 68: 37–46.
Belicina, N. V. & Šapiro, N. I., 1960. New data on the influence of streptomycin on the effectiveness of radiation of mammals' cells. D. A. N. USSR 135/2: 463.
Boyd, J. B., Golino, M. D. & Setlow, R. B., 1976. The mei-9a mutant of Drosophila melanogaster increases mutagen sensitivity and decreases excision repair. Genetics 84: 527–544.
Brock, R. D., 1971. Differential mutation of the β-galactosidase gene of Escherichia coli. Mut. Research 11: 181.
Comfort, A., 1964. Ageing: The biology of senescence. Holt, Rinehart and Winston Inc., New York.
Curtis, H. J., 1966. Biological mechanisms of ageing. C. C. Thomas, Springfield.
Delcuve, G., Cabezon, D., Ghersen, A., Herzog, A. & Bollen, A., 1977. Amber mutations in E. coli essential genes: Isolation of mutants affected in the ribosomes. Mol. gen. Genetics 157: 149–154.
Dobzhansky, T., Holz, A. M. & Spassky, B., 1942. Genetics of natural populations. VIII. Concealed variability in the second and the fourth chromosomes of Drosophila pseudoobscura and its bearing on the problem of heterozis. Genetics 27: 463–490.
Dubinin, N. P., 1966. Evolution of populations and radiation. Atomizda Moscow.
Dubinin, N. P., Dubinina, L. G. & Tarasov, B. A., 1965. On the mechanism of chemical protection from ionizing radiation of human chromosomes in the tissue culture. Genetika 5: 68.
Dubinin, N. P. & Grozdova, T. J., 1963. Streptomycin, radiation, and natural mutability. D. A. N. USSR 148/6: 1397.
Herman, R. K. & Dworkin, N. B., 1971. Effect of gene induction on the rate of mutagenesis by ICR-191 in E. coli. J. Bacteriol. 106: 543–550.
Ives, P. T., 1945. The genetic structure of American populations of Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 30: 167–196.
Kimball, R. F., Gaither, M. & Wilson, S., 1956. Post-treatment modification of X-ray mutagenesis in Paramecium. Rad. Research 5: 485.
Kirkwood, T. B. L., 1977. Evolution of ageing. Nature 270: 301.
Kirkwood, T. B. L. & Holliday, R., 1979. The evolution of ageing and longevity. Proc. Roy. Soc. London, B, 205: 531.
Kohne, T. & Roth, J. R., 1974. Proflavin mutagenesis of bacteria. J. mol. Biol. 89: 17–32.
Lamb, M., 1978. Ageing. In: M., Ashburner and T. R. F., Wright, eds, The Genetics and Biology of Drosophila, vol. 2c. Academic Press, New York.
Lints, F. A., 1978. Genetics and ageing. Karger, Basel.
Marinković, D. & Tucić, N., 1982. Contribution to the evolutionary theory of ageing. IV. Age-associated changes and developmental programmes in Drosophila. In: S., Lakovaara (ed.) Advances in genetics, development and evolution of Drosophila. Plenum Press, New York: 197–210.
Marinković, D., Tucić, N. & Andjelković, M., 1975. The effect of streptomycin on genetic loads produced in the course of ageing Drosophila melanogaster. Acta Biol. JAZU VII/3–8: 339–348.
Marinković, D., Tucić, N. & Kekić, V., 1980. Genetic variation and ecological adaptations. In: N. N., Vorontsov & J. M.van, Brink (eds), Animal Genetics and Evolution. Dr. W. Junk B.V. Publishers, The Hague: 249–262.
Marinković, D., Tucić, N., Kekić, V. & Andjelković, M., 1973. Age-associated changes in viability genetic loads of Drosophila melanogaster. Expl Geront. 8: 199–206.
Mayer, P. J. & Baker, G. T., 1985. Genetic aspects of Drosophila as a model system of eukaryotic ageing. Intern. Rev. Cytol. 95: 62–102.
Medawar, P. B., 1952. An unsolved problem in biology. H. K. Lewis, London.
Muller, H. J., 1950. Our load of mutations. Am. J. hum. Genetics 2: 111–176.
Nomura, M., 1970. Bacterial ribosome. Bacteriol. Review 34: 228–277.
Orgel, L. E., 1963. The maintenance of the accuracy of protein synthesis and its relevance to ageing. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 49: 517–5??.
Ozaki, M., Mizushima, S. & Nomura, M., 1969. Identification and functional characterization of the protein controlled by the streptomycin-resistant locus in E. coli. Nature 222: 333–339.
Sacher, G. A. & Hart, R. W., 1978. Longevity, ageing and comparative cellular and molecular biology of the house mouse, Mus musculus, and the white-footed mouse Peromyscus leucopus. In: D., Bergams & D. E., Harrison (eds) Genetic effect on Ageing. Alan R. Liss, New York.
Savić, D. & Kanazir, D., 1975. UV induced reversion patterns of constitutive and repressed Salmonella hystidine auxotrophs. Mol. gen. Genetics 137: 143–150.
Sinex, M. F., 1974. The mutation theory of ageing. In: M., Rockstein (ed.), Theoretical aspects of ageing. Academic Press, London.
Šmit, Ž., Rizova, M., Janković, D., Mihajlović, N., Jovanović, V. & Tucić, N., 1981. Contribution to the evolutionary theory of ageing. III. Relationship between duration of preimaginal development and longevity in Drosophila melanogaster. Acta biol. Iugosl. Genetika 13: 157–170.
Szillard, L., 1959. On the nature of the ageing process. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 45: 30–45.
Tucić, N., Andjelković, M., Kekić, V. & Marinković, D., 1980. Contribution to the evolutionary theory of ageing. I. Ageaffected changes in genetic loads of Drosophila melanogaster. Acta biol. Iugosl. Genetika 12: 173–185.
Tucić, N. & Marinković, D., 1978. Contribution to the evolutionary theory of ageing. II. The relationship between relative viability and longevity in Drosophila melanogaster. Arch. biol. Sci. 30: 35–43.
Williams, G. C., 1957. Pleiotropy, natural selection, and the evolution of senescence. Evolution 11: 398–411.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Marinkovié, D., Bajraktari, I. Parental age dependent changes as a source of genetic variation in Drosophila melanogaster . Genetica 77, 113–121 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00057761
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00057761