INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN METHUSELAH AND STRESS GRANULES IN YOUNG DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

Abstract

mth1, a longevity mutation found in fruit flies, has been previously found to improve stress resistance. Stress granules are complexes of misfolded mRNA and protein which form when an organism is stressed, and then dissolve afterward. While connections between stress granule dynamics and longevity mutations have been found in other organisms, the possible connection between mth1 and stress granules has not yet been explored. In this study, I generated a recombinant line of mth1-rin-GFP flies which could be used to visualize stress granules, conducted lifespan studies on these flies to determine whether the recombinant was long-lived, and conducted heat shock experiments on youngmth1-rin-GFP flies to determine if the recombinant formed more or less stress granules when stressed. The lifespan study found that the mth1 flies lived significantly longer than w1118 control flies, with a large increase in maximum lifespan and a small increase in average lifespan. However, the mth1-rin-GFP flies did not live longer compared to the same control. All heat shocked flies formed stress granules, and the mth1-rin-GFP flies formed larger stress granules than did the rin-GFP/rin-GFP control. These findings support the hypothesis that the mth1mutation affects stress granule dynamics in early life.