Thioredoxin-2 affects lifespan and oxidative stress in Drosophila

• Thioredoxins are proteins that have thiol-reducing activity and a characteristic conserved active site (WCGPC). They have several documented functions, e.g. roles in defences against oxidative stress and as electron donors for ribonucleotidereductase. In Drosophila melanogaster there are three ‘‘classical’’ thioredoxins with the conserved active site: deadhead, ThioredoxinT and Thioredoxin-2. Here, we report the creation of null-mutations in the Thioredoxin-2 (Trx-2) gene. Characterization of two Trx-2 mutants indicated that Trx-2 affects the lifespan of D. melanogaster, and is involved in the organism’s oxidative stress protection system. We found that the mutants have a shorter lifespan than wild-type flies, and thioredoxin double mutant flies showed lower tolerance to oxidative stress than wild-type flies, while flies carrying multiple copies of a Trx-2 rescue construct showed higher tolerance. These findings suggest that Trx-2 has modest or redundant functions in Drosophila physiology under unstressed conditions, but could be important during times of environmental stress.

Keyword

Analysis of Variance

Animals

Animals; Genetically Modified

Blotting; Western

Crosses; Genetic

Drosophila/*genetics

Female

Gene Deletion

Genes; Insect

Homozygote

Longevity/*genetics

Male

Membrane Proteins/*genetics/*physiology

Oxidative Stress/*genetics

Thioredoxin/*genetics

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

art (subject category)