ИСТИНА

One of the classical approaches to the study of the evolutionary foundation of the lifespan is experiments on artificial selection on convenient object like fruit flies. In this study, the lifespan of flies from a line selected for late reproduction (Ma), a line with a depleted yeast microbiome (Mbd) and a control line (Mn) ancestral to the Ma and Mbd lines were studied. Initially, we were selecting fruit flies for later reproduction. Having found a significant increase in lifespan of Ma line, we undertook to assess the genetic component of the observed changes. The inability to explain the change in the lifespan only by genetic factors prompted us to test hypotheses about the influence of microbiotic factor on this parameter of the life cycle. We have identified a significant contribution of the microbiota to the results of the selection for longevity. In the presence of microbiota from the Mn control line, the lifespan of flies from different lines sharply decreased, which indicates the presence of Mn components (bacteria or yeast) in the microbiota of control flies that greatly shorten the life of flies. As a result, the low lifespan of Mn flies turned out to be a "contagious" sign. Apparently, during the selection for later reproduction, a new microbiota was formed in flies from the Ma line that did not have a negative effect on the lifespan, and this was what explained most of the excess of the lifespan of Ma flies over the lifespan of flies from the ancestral Mn lineage. This result is a reliable confirmation of the homogenomic theory of evolution. The study was funded by the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 22-24-00227, URL: https://rscf.ru/en/project/22-24-00227/