STRATEGIES FOR REPRODUCTION AND AGING

The process of accumulation of deleterious mutations is the fundamenta l reason of ageing, according to the evolutionary theory. In this theo ry, the individuals better fitted to reproduce will suffer this accumu lation in adulthood or old age. We present results obtained from Monte Carlo simulations of the Penna model dealing with the influence of en vironmental conditions in the reproductive regimes and its consequence s on the population ageing: longevity and catastrophic senescence. Mor eover, the role of antagonistic pleiotropy in the time evolution is di scussed. A puzzling experimental result obtained in species with gende r differentiation is the existence of different survival probabilities for males and females. This matter is discussed here in the context o f antagonistic pleiotropy.