Transcriptome Analysis of Long-lived Drosophila melanogaster E(z) Mutants Sheds Light on the Molecular Mechanisms of Longevity

The E(z) histone methyltransferase heterozygous mutation in Drosophila is known to increase lifespan and stress resistance. However, the longevity mechanisms of E(z) mutants have not been revealed. Using genome-wide transcriptome analysis, we demonstrated that lifespan extension, increase of resistance to hyperthermia, oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress, and fecundity enhancement in E(z) heterozygous mutants are accompanied by changes in the expression level of 239 genes (p < 0.05). Our results demonstrated sex-specific effects of E(z) mutation on gene expression, which, however, did not lead to differences in lifespan extension in both sexes. We observed that a mutation in an E(z) gene leads to perturbations in gene expression, most of which participates in metabolism, such as Carbohydrate metabolism, Lipid metabolism, Drug metabolism, Nucleotide metabolism. Age-dependent changes in the expression of genes involved in pathways related to immune response, cell cycle, and ribosome biogenesis were found.