Culture Media for Drosophila. II. A Neqw Synthetic Medium and Its Influence on Fertility at Different Densities of Population

Drosophila melanogaster flies climb up the sides of their vial after having been submitted to a mechanical stimulation; that ability is impaired at older ages. The climbing activity (CLI) of flies kept at various gravity levels (1,3 and 5 g) has been measured throughout life, in cross-sectional studies. Hypergravity had no effect on CLI at young age, but older flies kept in hypergravity displayed lower scores than flies kept at 1 g. Results are discussed in relation with the hypothesis of increased aging rate in hypergravity.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hypergravity and Aging in Drosophila melanogaster. 4. Climbing Activity

Lebourg

Lints²

1992

“…The strain is maintained by mass mating on the classical agar-agar-sugar-commealyeast medium. After emergence the experimental males were transferred to the S 101 medium of Pearl et al [1926], enriched with live yeast. They are main tained, by groups of 15, in 75 cm3 vials renewed twice a week.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aging and Habituation of the Tarsal Response in Drosophila melanogaster

Bourg¹

1983

The measure of the waning of an unconditioned response, viz. the extension of the proboscis in response to repetitive tarsal stimulations by sucrose, has been conducted in young and old Drosophila melanogaster as a mean to estimate habituation. The same percentage of young and old flies reaches the defined criterion of habituation. The number of trials to reach habituation does not vary with age. That habituation experiment does not reveal any form of perseveration in the aged Drosophila, contrary to what has been shown in mammals. These results could be due either to the fact that old flies are not more perseverative than young ones or to the fact that the habituation test used is perhaps too simple.

“…At 16.30 the day before observation, HG-kept flies were transferred at 1 g. Then, both HG-and I g-kept flies were transferred into individual glass vials (length: 20 cm, diameter: 2.4 cm) filled with the S-101 medium [Pearl et al, 1926] enriched with live yeast. The reason for that transfer is technical: it is preferable to observe SLA in large vials and, furthermore, the fly is more easily visible on the S-101 medium than on the usual one.…”

Section: Longitudinal Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hypergravity and Aging in Drosophila melanogaster. 6. Spontaneous Locomotor Activity

Bourg

Lints²

1992

The spontaneous locomotor activity (SLA) of Drosophila melanogaster flies kept at various gravity levels (1–5 g) was recorded in both longitudinal and cross-sectional experiments. No gravity level effect could be detected in the longitudinal one, probably because these flies were allowed (for technical reasons) to rest at 1 g for 15 % of their life. By contrast, flies kept at 5 g in the cross-sectional experiment had lower SLA scores at middle and old age than both 1 and 3 g-kept flies. The results of this series of experiments on hypergravity (HG) effects on three forms of locomotor activity (climbing activity, patterns of movement and SLA) allow to conclude that aging is accelerated in HG, even if no longevity decrease could be detected in the 1–4 g range.