Linus Pauling Institute

Five populations of Drosophila melanogaster that had been selected for postponed aging were compared with five control populations using two-dimensional protein gel electrophoresis. The goals of the study were to identify specific proteins associated with postponed aging and to survey the population genetics of the response to selection. A total of 321 proteins were resolvable per population; these proteins were scored according to their intensity. The resulting data were analyzed using resampling, combinatoric, and maximum parsimony methods. The analysis indicated that the populations with postponed aging were different from their controls with respect to specific proteins and with respect to the variation between populations. The populations selected for postponed aging were more heterogeneous between populations than were the control populations. Maximum parsimony trees separate the selected populations, as a group, from their controls, thereby exhibiting a homoplastic pattern.