Characterization during adult life of the wild type and W441C mutant d-mtDNA helicase.

(A) Longevity curve of lines overexpressing the wild type and W441C mutants using a constitutive and ubiquitous driver (da-GAL4). 100 adult males (0–2 days old) were collected in an empty tube with standard medium and the number of surviving flies was counted every 2 days. Kaplan-Meier survival curve was performed (p = 0.045, n = 3 biological experiments). (B) Quantitation of mtDNA copy number by qRT-PCR at 5, 25 and 50 days of life in both lines.