[Towards the estimation of survival curves parameters and geroprotectors classification].

The following parameters are proposed to estimate in survival curves analysis: Median Life Span, Hill slope, Expected Maximal Life Span. Those estimates enable to classify geroprotectors as weak, moderate and strong.

[Consequences of selection in highly inbred Drosophila strains].

The results of three long-term breeding and genetic experiments with Drosophila melanogaster performed at different times are summarized. Selections for different fitness components led to similar results. The data on the concentration of viability mutations in the inbred strains LA, LA+, and LA- after 400 generations of selection and the strain ULA during its breeding are presented for the first time. The results of studying the genetic heterogeneity and spontaneous mutational process in Drosophila inbred strains comply with the idea of M.E. Lobashev that "a change in the direction of selection or acceleration of its rate is always accompanied by a concurrent increase in mutational variation".

Effects of peptides on generation of reactive oxygen species in subcellular fractions of Drosophila melanogaster.

We studied the effects of Epithalon (Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly) and Vilon (Lys-Glu) on free radical processes in highly inbred HA(+)line of Drosophila melanogaster. Vilon inhibited generation of reactive oxygen species in mitochondria, but stimulated this process in the cytosol. We found sex- and age-related differences in the generation of reactive oxygen species and cytosol antioxidant activity.

Effect of pineal tetrapeptide on antioxidant defense in Drosophila melanogaster.

Effects of synthetic pineal tetrapeptide L-Ala-L-Glu-L-Asp-L-Glu (Epithalon) on specific catalase activity and the content of conjugated hydroperoxides in highly inbred Drosophila melanogaster lines differing in reproductive functions were studied. It was shown that Epithalon is a potent modulator of the antioxidant defense, whose biological activity 1000-fold surpasses that of the complex pineal peptide preparation Epithalamin.

Effect of epithalone on the age-specific changes in the time course of lipid peroxidation in Drosophila melanogaster.

The effect of epithalone on the age-specific time course of lipid peroxidation was studied in inadaptive Drosophila melanogaster strains. A single dose of epithalone at the larval stage decreased the level of conjugated hydroperoxides and Schiff bases throughout the life span of imago. Strain- and sex-specific differences in the time course of the studied sign are characterized.

[Genetic effects of destabilizing selection for adaptively important traits in Drosophila melanogaster lines]. / Genetickie éffekty destabiliziruiushchego otbora pri selektsii po adaptivno vazhnym priznakam v liniiakh Drosophila melanogaster.

Related lines of Drosophila melanogaster selected for reproductive activity for more than 750 generations were studied. Results of the long-term selection experiment support D.K. Belyaev's concept of destabilizing selection. Selection for a behavioral trait (male mating activity) affected the intrinsic structure of the organism. Flies of the low-activity line (LA) exhibited numerous morphological, biochemical, and physiological alterations. Variation rate in the selected lines was accelerated; appearing mutations were often allelic and nonrandomly distributed over chromosomes. Selection was shown to mediate novel sources of variability, e.g., induction and repression of the hobo hybrid dysgenesis. In the process of selection, a genetically determined program of hobo transpositions in the genome was formed.

[Evaluation of the heritability of basic parameters of aging in Drosophila melanogaster]. / Otsenka nasleduemosti osnovnykh parametrov stareniia u Drosophila melanogaster.

Based on 28 annuity curves of Drosophila melanogaster, the heritability of Gompertz mortality parameters was estimated; its value was 0.7-0.8. Mortality parameter R0 was shown to be inversely proportional to the square of alpha. Some data indicate the monogenic control of interlinear differences in these parameters. A hypothesis on the localization of these genes on chromosome 2 is discussed.

[The effect of L-arginine on the NADPH-diaphorase activity in Drosophila melanogaster homogenates]. / Vliianie L-arginina na NADPH-diaforaznuiu aktivnost' v gomogenatakh Drosophila melanogaster.

It was shown that L-arginine (up to 0.5 mM) competitively inhibits the NADPH-diaphorase activity in drosophila melanogaster. The value of inhibition constant is equal to 103 microM. In the presence of higher concentration of L-arginine total NADPH-diaphorase activity includes not only the L-arginine inhibited component, but also the non-inhibited one.

[A comparative genetic analysis of interlinear differences in intensity of lipid peroxidation and life span in Drosophila melanogaster. Inbred lines and hybrids]. / Sravnitel'no-geneticheskii analiz mezhlineinykh razlichii v intensivnosti perekisnogo okisleniia lipidov i prodolzhitel'nosti zhizni u Drosophila melanogasters. Inbrednye linii i gibridy.

The interrelationship between the level of peroxidation lipid and longevity was studied as based on highly inbred lines of Drosophila melanogaster, bred for adaptively important characters. The concepts of the free-radical theory proved valid for the lines and failed to be supported for the crosses. The dominant role of heterosis in the protecting against the "aging action" of free radicals is postulated.

[Directed character of genetic variation during long-term selection of Drosophila melanogaster strains for adaptively important characters]. / Napravlennyi kharakter geneticheskikh izmenenii pri dlitel'nom otbore linii Drosophila melanogaster po adaptivno vazhnym priznakam.

Related fly strains that were selected for differences in reproductive function for about 700 generations were studied. The low-active (LA) strain differs from other related and highly active strains of interest at a set of characters. Qualitative differences in the spectrum of viability mutations are retained in strains selected in opposite directions. Low-active strains carry a great number of deleterious mutations. Such mutations are rare in the related highly active strains. Moreover, about 50% of chromosomes in the highly active strains carry supervital mutations, which increase viability. Recombination analysis showed the presence of at least several viability mutations in each chromosome of the strains studied. Unlike highly active strains, the low-active ones are characterized by an extremely high spontaneous mutation rate. The conservation of genetic heterogeneity observed in long-term selected strains, as well as the high mutation rate, must be connected with regular changes in the spectrum of retrotransposons (MDG1, MDG3) and hobo elements characteristic of the strains studied. A special crossing system that induces a sharp increase in LA induction potential in the H-E system of hybrid dysgenesis was developed.

[The dynamics of mortality in inbred selected strains and their hybrids in Drosophila melanogaster]. / Dinamika smertnosti v inbrednykh selektiruemykh liniiakh i ikh gibridakh u Drosophila melanogaster.

The average life span (ALS) was analyzed in flies of the Drosophila melanogaster inbred stock selected for high embryonic mortality (HEM). In is shown that selection resulted in the reduced ALS of HEM stock, as compared with the initial outbred Leric stock. Two equal peaks of mortality were observed in the hybrid females. The peaks mean values usually corresponded to ALS of the parents. A major peak of mortality was detected in hybrid males, and its mean was higher than ALS values characteristic of both parents. The existence of genes controlling "early" and "late" death in D. melanogaster ontogenesis is proposed.

[The relationship between lipid peroxidation and life span in Drosophila melanogaster]. / K voprosu o sviazi perekisnogo okisleniia lipidov i prodolzhitel'nosti zhizni u Drosophila melanogaster.

Using Drosophila lines pre-selected for adaptive characters, studies have been made on the relationship between the intensity of lipid peroxidation and life span in flies of different genotype, age and physiological condition. It was shown that the intensity of lipid peroxidation depends mainly on different factors (sex, age, virginity) in different lines. No expected negative correlation was found between the level of lipid peroxidation and life span in hybrids between two inbred lines. The intensity of lipid peroxidation was inherited like a dominant character, the dynamics of aging--like a codominant one in females and superdominant in males. Both the level of lipid peroxidation and life span appeared to be sex-dependent characters.

[The formation of an adaptive genetic system in an inbred strain of Drosophila melanogaster selected for high embryonic mortality]. / Formirovanie adaptivnoi geneticheskoi sistemy v inbrednoi linii Drosophila melanogaster, selektiruemoi na vysokuiu émbrional'nuiu smertnost'.

In prolonged genetic experiment two contrast inbred strains, selected for the differences in embryonic mortality have been produced (HEM and LEM). In HEM strain the balanced lethal system in 55.0 region (near B1) of chromosome 2 has been formed. This system provides a high level of average fitness in the strain, despite of the high level of embryonic mortality.

[The dynamics of embryonic mortality in inbred Drosophila strains]. / Dinamika émbrional'noi smertnosti v inbrednykh liniiakh drozofily.

This paper describes embryonic mortality in selected inbred strains of Drosophila studied over time. We found that the incidence rate of nondeveloping eggs increases up to 100% during the first 4 days after oviposition in the strain selected for high embryonic mortality (HEM). We have analyzed the contribution of both sexes to the realization of this effect and possible mechanisms of its appearance.