Abstract
Recessive mutations in two genes, daf-2 and age-1, extend the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans significantly. The daf-2 gene also regulates formation of an alternative developmental state called the dauer. Here we asked whether these two genes function in the same or different lifespan pathways. We found that the longevity of both age-1 and daf-2 mutants requires the activities of the same two genes, daf-16 and daf-18. In addition, the daf-2(e1370); age-1(hx546) double mutant did not live significantly longer than the daf-2 single mutant. We also found that, like daf-2 mutations, the age-1(hx546) mutation affects certain aspects of dauer formation. These findings suggest that age-1 and daf-2 mutations do act in the same lifespan pathway and extend lifespan by triggering similar if not identical processes.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (878.2 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Brenner S. The genetics of Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 1974 May;77(1):71–94. doi: 10.1093/genetics/77.1.71. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Friedman D. B., Johnson T. E. A mutation in the age-1 gene in Caenorhabditis elegans lengthens life and reduces hermaphrodite fertility. Genetics. 1988 Jan;118(1):75–86. doi: 10.1093/genetics/118.1.75. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gottlieb S., Ruvkun G. daf-2, daf-16 and daf-23: genetically interacting genes controlling Dauer formation in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 1994 May;137(1):107–120. doi: 10.1093/genetics/137.1.107. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kenyon C., Chang J., Gensch E., Rudner A., Tabtiang R. A C. elegans mutant that lives twice as long as wild type. Nature. 1993 Dec 2;366(6454):461–464. doi: 10.1038/366461a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Larsen P. L., Albert P. S., Riddle D. L. Genes that regulate both development and longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 1995 Apr;139(4):1567–1583. doi: 10.1093/genetics/139.4.1567. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Thomas J. H., Birnby D. A., Vowels J. J. Evidence for parallel processing of sensory information controlling dauer formation in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 1993 Aug;134(4):1105–1117. doi: 10.1093/genetics/134.4.1105. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Trent C., Wood W. B., Horvitz H. R. A novel dominant transformer allele of the sex-determining gene her-1 of Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 1988 Sep;120(1):145–157. doi: 10.1093/genetics/120.1.145. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Vowels J. J., Thomas J. H. Genetic analysis of chemosensory control of dauer formation in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 1992 Jan;130(1):105–123. doi: 10.1093/genetics/130.1.105. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ward S., Argon Y., Nelson G. A. Sperm morphogenesis in wild-type and fertilization-defective mutants of Caenorhabditis elegans. J Cell Biol. 1981 Oct;91(1):26–44. doi: 10.1083/jcb.91.1.26. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]