The Effects of Heat Shock on the Longevity in Some Strains of Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Drosophilidae)

Abstract

It is known that there is a relationship between stress factors and longevity and many stress factors are effective on longevity and aging. One of the stress factors is temperature. Global warming, whose effects keep rising nowadays and better understood by the people, and climate changes depending on global warming are strengthening the effects of this stress factor. In this study, the effects of heat shock on the longevity of Drosophila
melanogaster were analyzed. The fl ies used in the experiments were Oregon R wild type and Vestigial mutant type of D. melanogaster. For this study, a 39°C heat shock was applied to the experimental groups at different durations (1, 2 and 3 hours). According to our results, it was observed that the mean female and male populations life span of the Oregon R wild type and Vestigial mutant type of D. melanogaster was reduced depending on the increase in the duration on the experimental groups (p<0.05 and p<0.001).