Acetaldehyde utilization in Drosophila: an example of hormesis

Abstract

For survival measured by longevity, acetaldehyde is beneficial at low and stressful at high concentrations in Drosophila utilizing ethanol as a major resource. This is an example of the increasingly common observation of hormesis which is the stimulatory effect by toxic agents at subinhibitory levels. Organic metabolites such as acetaldehyde and organisms such as Drosophila offer the possibility of model genetical and molecular studies of hormesis. This may assist our understanding of suggestions of enhanced fitness at natural background radiation levels and in habitats simulating these levels. 1989 The Linnean Society