A dataset for assessing temporal changes in gene expression during the aging process of adult Drosophila melanogaster

A Drosophila melanogaster genome-wide transcriptome dataset is available for studies on temporal patterns of gene expression. Gene expression was measured using two-dye color oligonucleotide arrays derived from Version 2 of the Drosophila Genomics Resource Center. A total of 15,158 oligonucleotide probes corresponded to a high proportion of the coding genes in the genome. The source of the flies was a highly genetically heterogeneous population maintained in an overlapping generation population regime. This regime was designed to maintain life history traits so that they were similar to those found in natural populations. Flies collected for the cohorts were obtained in a short period of time in a carefully controlled manner before virgin females and males were allowed to mate. Mated females were introduced into two large population cages in unusually high numbers (approximately 12,000 per cage) for a Drosophila laboratory longevity study. Samples were taken weekly from each cohort for 11 weeks; only a small proportion of surviving flies were present at the last two collection time points and thus they were exceptionally old compared to those collected in early-to-midlife samples. The data set is useful for studies of temporal patterns of gene expression as flies age. The very large size of each cohort, and relatively frequent incidence of temporal samples, allows for a fine-scale study of gene expression from young to very old flies.