INTERACTIONS BETWEEN AGING AND INBREEDING EFFECTS ON DEVELOPMENT OF DROSOPHILA-MELANOGASTER EMBRYOS

Aging and brother-sister inbreeding effects were studied simultaneously during the development of D. melanogaster. Egg hatchability and adult emergence were investigated in relation to age of females laying eggs and age of parents of these females. Each couple was followed individually. The effects of parental age varied according to the mating system used. Hatchability and emergency of inbred eggs were affected by aging. Parental constitution may influence early and later stages of development. Control of embryonic and larvo-pupal developments may involve processes perturbed by both aging and inbreeding. Information related to the genetic control system of development varies with age of flies and of their parents and consequently modulates the inbreeding effects. Inbreeding and aging may both involve cytoplasmic-genome interactions implicated in the control of embryogenesis.