A new study found that when male fruit flies are unable to mate, they experiencing health deterioration and life span reduction by as much as 40 percent.
Normally fruit flies have a life span of 60 days and it is usually shortened by 10 to 15 percent after mating. However, this new study provides a fresh perspective in that the inability to reproduce actually reduces their lives to a greater extent.
The researchers observed how the flies age by analyzing the genetic material which controls their lifespan. It is believed that it is similar to how humans also mature.
The neuropeptide (NPF) is a brain chemical that is very crucial to the aging process. It was associated previously to the part of the brain involving reward but now it is also very significant in this experiment.
They placed the fruit flies close to fellow males who were genetically altered to discharge female sex pheromones, which instantaneously trigger arousal in the male flies. As a result of their inability to mate, the experimental flies were found to have increased levels of NPF.
Normally the reproduction would normalize the NPF levels of the flies but since it maintained a heightened level, the flies began to feel stressed and suffered grave physiological problems such as reduced fat and reduced life spans.
As co-author Dr. Scott Pletcher of the University of Michigan put it, “We immediately observed that they looked quite sick very soon in the presence of these effeminized males.”
"Evolutionarily we hypothesize the animals are making a bet to determine that mating will happen soon. Those that correctly predict may be in a better position, they either produce more sperm or devote more energy to reproduction in expectation, and this may have some consequences (if they do not mate)," Dr Pletcher explained.
The study was published in the Nov. 28 issue of Science.
