Changes in superoxide dismutase activity and copper during development and ageing in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Total superoxide dismutase activity was found to increase during development of the fruit fly ( Drosophila melanogaster) with an increase of 346% occurring between the larval and the one-day-old adult stage. During the adult stage total superoxide dismutase activity did not vary with age. Throughout the period of rapid increase in total superoxide dismutase there was a correspondingly rapid increase in total copper content. A continued increase in copper content during the adult stage suggested, however, that copper levels were not determining total superoxide dismutase activity during adult ageing. The cyanide-insensitive or mitochondrial superoxide dismutase reached a maximum at 8 days of age and declined by 21% between 8 and 58 days of age.