Figure 2.

Short‐term starvation (STS) stress‐preserved vitality is coupled to reproductive fitness in adult male C. elegans during aging. (a) Total sperm numbers in N2 adult male worms of different ages maintained at 22°C, and of different STS stress‐treated worms as shown in Figure 1a. Data represent mean ± SD, n ≥ 10. Left panel, *different from day 2 level, p ≤ 0.05; **different from day 2 level, p ≤ 0.001. Right panel, difference between two indicated groups: *, p ≤ 0.05; **, p ≤ 0.001. (b) Sperm quality assayed in an in vitro sperm activation system using triethanolamine (TEA). Data represent mean ± SD, n ≥ 10. Left panel, *different from day 2 level, p ≤ 0.001. Right panel, difference between two indicated groups: *, p ≤ 0.001. (c) Relative mRNA levels of msp‐3 and try‐5 by qRT‐PCR analysis.Data represent mean ± SD, n = 4. Difference between two indicated groups: *, p ≤ 0.001. (d) Copulatory activity in D10 adult male worms. Data represent mean ± SD, n = 4. Difference between the two indicated groups: *, p ≤ 0.001. (e) Fertilization ability in D10 adult male worms. Data represent mean ± SD, n ≥ 30. Difference between the two indicated groups: *, p ≤ 0.05. **, p ≤ 0.001