Age-specific effects of novel mutations in Drosophila melanogaster II. Fecundity and male mating ability.

Evolutionary theories of senescence assume that mutations with age-specific effects exist, yet until now, there has been little experimental evidence to support this assumption. In this study, we allowed mutations to accumulate in an outbred, wild population of Drosophila melanogaster to test for age-specific differences in both male mating ability and fecundity. We assayed for age-specific effects of mutations after 10, 20, and 30 generations of mutation accumulation. For mating ability, we found the strongest effects of mutations in the first half of the life span after 20 generations, and at nearly all ages by generation 30. These results are qualitatively consistent with results from a companion study in which age-specific mortality was assayed on the same lines of D. melanogaster. By contrast, effects of fecundity were confined to late ages after 20 generations of mutation accumulation, but by generation 30, as with male mating ability, effects of novel mutations were distributed across all age classes. We discuss several possible explanations for the differences that we observe between generations within traits, and among traits, and the relevance for these patterns to models of aging as well as models of mate choice and sexual selection.

Mack PD ，Lester VK ，Promislow DE 《GENETICA》

Age-specific effects of novel mutations in Drosophila melanogaster I. Mortality.

Yampolsky LYu ，Pearse LE ，Promislow DE 《GENETICA》

Quantitative trait loci with age-specific effects on fecundity in Drosophila melanogaster.

Leips J ，Gilligan P ，Mackay TF 《GENETICS》

Selection on age at reproduction in Drosophila melanogaster: female mating frequency as a correlated response.

:We examined the effect of selection for age at reproduction on female mating frequency and fertility in female Drosophila melanogaster. Selection for increased age at reproduction (and hence increased lifespan) resulted in higher late life female mating frequencies, while females selected for younger ages at reproduction showed increased early life mating frequencies. These results indicate that the response to selection on age at reproduction has involved changes in the scheduling of female reproductive behavior.

Sgrò CM ，Geddes G ，Fowler K ，Partridge L ... -  《EVOLUTION》

Deleterious mutations show increasing negative effects with age in Drosophila melanogaster.

Brengdahl MI ，Kimber CM ，Elias P ，Thompson J ，Friberg U ... -  《BMC BIOLOGY》