sunEM67/+ female flies exhibit an extended lifespan compared with the parental strain (25% increase in average lifespan). At day 6, mortality is minimal for both parental and sunEM67/+ females. At day 30, the mortality rate diverges significantly between parental and sunEM67/+ females. No difference in ATP concentrations is observed between the parental and sunEM67/+ mutant females. As compared to the parental strain, sunEM67/+ females exhibit an increase in resistance to 20mM dietary paraquat (a free radical generator).
The sunEM67 chromosome may carry a second lethal mutation; attempts to produce germ-line clones by X-ray induced mitotic recombination has not resulted in any females that are able to lay eggs.