Metabolism as Related to Chromosome Structure and the Duration of Life

This paper presents the rates of CO(2) production for four groups of Drosophila which differ in their chromosome constitutions. The four groups have metabolic rates which correlate with the balance of their chromosomes, the balanced chromosome groups of flies producing less CO(2) than the unbalanced chromosome groups. It is concluded therefore that genic balance plays a prominent part in metabolic control. The carbon dioxide rates are related to the duration of life within these groups. The results show that qualitatively the larger the production of CO(2) per day the shorter the time which the flies are capable of living. The agreement is not exact quantitatively. Rubner's theory postulating a limit for the energy an organism is capable of metabolizing does not hold for the six classes of flies. The data show that the theory can be at most not more than a partial truth. Cell size is found to show no direct correlation with the metabolic rates of the different fly cohorts.