Research Paper Volume 7, Issue 1 pp 53—69

The progesterone antagonist mifepristone/RU486 blocks the negative effect on life span caused by mating in female Drosophila

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Figure 8. Mifepristone is maternal-effect lethal to embryos expressing Gene-Switch. (A, B) The w[1118] control strain was crossed to Elav-GS, and the progeny females were collected as virgins over 24 hours, and then mated to w[1118] males at a ration of 1:1 for 4 days. The females were separated from the males and maintained on food in the presence and absence of 160ug/ml mifepristone. The number of adult offspring was quantified for the 2-day intervals, for flies passaged in the presence (A) and absence (B) of 160ug/ml drug, as indicated. 5 replicate vials of 20 females per vial were used, and the average number of offspring per female per day is plotted as bar graphs. The fraction of the flies bearing the Elav-GS transgene is indicated in orange color for each bar. (C) The Elav-GS strain was crossed to itself and the progeny females were collected as virgins over 24 hours, and then mated to w[1118] males at a ration of 1:1 for 4 days. The females were separated from the males and maintained on food in the presence and absence of 160ug/ml mifepristone. The number of adult offspring was quantified for the 2-day intervals, for flies passaged in the presence and absence of 160ug/ml drug, as indicated. 5 replicate vials of 20 females per vial were used, and the average number of offspring per female per day is plotted as bar graphs; error bars indicate standard deviation.