THE EXPRESSION OF A REPORTER PROTEIN, BETA-GALACTOSIDASE, IS PRESERVED DURING MATURATION AND AGING IN SOME CELLS OF THE ADULT DROSOPHILA-MELANOGASTER

The effects of maturation and aging on cell stability and maintenance of protein expression have been examined in adult Drosophila melanogas ter. Counting the number of cells present in the antenna of the adult fly revealed little loss in cell number with aging. Enhancer trap-mark ed genes expressing beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) in the antenna and a n Rhl opsin reporter gene construct expressing beta-gal in the R1-6 ph otoreceptor cells of the compound eye revealed no alteration in spatia l distribution or amount of beta-gal with aging. A heat shock-inducibl e promoter coupled to the expression of beta-gal, hsp70-lacZ revealed that the rate and amount of induction of beta-gal after heat shock is preserved during aging but the rate of decay of beta-gal may be slight ly delayed in older animals. These studies suggest that the ability to express a reporter protein, beta-galactosidase, is preserved in at le ast a subset of cells in the aging fly.