Effect of deleterious mutations on life span in Drosophila melanogaster.

Evolutionary theories of aging assume that the accumulation of deleterious mutations will reduce life span. We tested this assumption in Drosophila melanogaster by a newly designed mating scheme, in which mutations accumulate on the Binscy balancer X chromosome in heterozygous females in the absence of selection and recombination. We found that the life span of Binscy/RY(L) males from this cross decreased faster than the life span of their sibling controls over time in two of three runs, and that there was an age-specific increase in mortality in the Binscy/RY(L) males with time in one of three runs. Therefore, the accumulation of deleterious mutations can decrease life span by increasing fragility and can cause age-specific changes in mortality. These results support the evolutionary theory of aging.