AnAge entry for Drosophila melanogaster
Classification (HAGRID: 00011)
- Taxonomy
-
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda (Taxon entry)
Class: Insecta (Taxon entry)
Order: Diptera
Family: Drosophilidae
Genus: Drosophila
- Species
- Drosophila melanogaster
- Common name
- Fruit fly
- Synonyms
- Drosophila ampelophila
Lifespan, ageing, and relevant traits
- IMR
- 0.05/year
- MRDT
- 0.04 years
- Maximum longevity
- 0.3 years (captivity)
- Source
- Multiple references, please see bibliography below
- Sample size
- Large
- Data quality
- Acceptable
- Observations
The fruit fly is mostly composed of post-mitotic cells, has a very short lifespan, and shows gradual ageing. Like in other species, temperature influences the life history of the animal. Caloric restriction has been shown to extend lifespan in fruit flies. Little is known about causes of death in old fruit flies but cardiac ageing has been reported [0981].
Several genes have been identified whose manipulation extends the lifespan of these animals [0068]. Given the various genetic and environmental manipulations of lifespan in this species, the maximum longevity is a conservative estimate.
Life history traits (averages)
- Female sexual maturity
- 7 days
- Male sexual maturity
- 7 days
- Adult weight
Metabolism
No information on metabolism is available.
Species in other databases
References
- [1150] Jones et al. (2014), Diversity of ageing across the tree of life (PubMed)
- [0981] Wolf and Austad (2010), Introduction: Lifespans and Pathologies Present at Death in Laboratory Animals
- [0032] Schmidt and Paaby (2008), Reproductive diapause and life-history clines in North American populations of Drosophila melanogaster (PubMed)
- [0602] Grotewiel et al. (2005), Functional senescence in Drosophila melanogaster (PubMed)
- [0240] Landis et al. (2004), Similar gene expression patterns characterize aging and oxidative stress in Drosophila melanogaster (PubMed)
- [0274] McCarroll et al. (2004), Comparing genomic expression patterns across species identifies shared transcriptional profile in aging (PubMed)
- [0068] Helfand and Rogina (2003), Genetics of aging in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster (PubMed)
- [0241] Pletcher et al. (2002), Genome-wide transcript profiles in aging and calorically restricted Drosophila melanogaster (PubMed)
- [0242] Zou et al. (2000), Genome-wide study of aging and oxidative stress response in Drosophila melanogaster (PubMed)
- [0053] Guarente and Kenyon (2000), Genetic pathways that regulate ageing in model organisms (PubMed)
- [0020] Tower (2000), Transgenic methods for increasing Drosophila life span (PubMed)
- [0069] Gershon and Gershon (2000), Paradigms in aging research: a critical review and assessment (PubMed)
- [0243] Rose (1999), Genetics of aging in Drosophila (PubMed)
- [0002] Caleb Finch (1990), Longevity, Senescence, and the Genome
- [0047] FlyBase
External Resources
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System
- ITIS 146290
- Animal Diversity Web
- ADW account
- Encyclopaedia of Life
- Search EOL
- NCBI Taxonomy
- Taxonomy ID 7227
- Entrez
- Search all databases
- Ageing Literature
- Search Google Scholar or Search PubMed
- Images
- Google Image search
- Internet
- Search Google