The life span of this mutant is shorter than that of wild type under atmospheric conditions and varies depending upon the oxygen concentrations and the activity of cytoplasmic superoxide dismutase, a scavenging enzyme for superoxide anion, is about half the wild type. Furthermore, the mev-1 mutants accumulate more fluorescent materials and protein carbonyl contents, as good markers of aging as these accumulate with increasing age, at a greater rate than dose wild type.
More cloning is in progress.