Reduced expression of the electron transport chain component ATPsynβL in glutamate neurons changes Drosophila melanogaster sleep patterns through adulthood.

A physiological marker of human aging is a decline in sleep patterns, a behavior also found in Drosophila melanogaster. To understand the connection between aging and sleep, we monitored sleep in long-lived flies. RNAi targeting the electron transport chain ATPsynβL gene in glutamate neurons has been demonstrated to extend life span. We investigate the sleep behavior in these RNAi flies at 5 days and 30 days of age and observe a persistent increase in daytime sleep, but not in nighttime sleep or sleep bout length. These results demonstrate the unique effects on sleep by glutamate-specific RNAi of ATPsynβL.