The Result of Improved Nutrition on the Lansing Effect Inmoina Macrocopa

Lansing showed that clones of rotifers raised through successive generations from old mothers will die out (Lansing Effect). We have found that the phenomenon also can be shown in a crustacean, Moina macrocopa, cultured monoxenically on Chlamydomonas reinhardii. Furthermore, we have found that the Lansing Effect can be modified and partly prevented by exposing the animals to relatively large amounts of inositol or liver infusion. It is suggested that the Lansing Effect in Moina macrocopa is the result of a long range, transmissible cumulative, premature aging phenomenon due to relative nutritional deficiency.