X-Message-Number: 13740
Date: Thu, 18 May 2000 13:08:59 +1000
From: Simon Carter <>
Subject: Evolution of lifespan in C. elegans

Nature 405, 296-297 (2000)  [18 May]

Natural selection: Evolution of lifespan in C. elegans 

DAVID W. WALKER, GAWAIN MCCOLL, NICOLE L. JENKINS, JENNIFER HARRIS &
GORDON J. LITHGOW

It was proposed almost 50 years ago that ageing is non-adaptive and is
the consequence of a decline in the force of natural
selection with age. This led to the theory that ageing results from
detrimental effects late in life of genes that act beneficially
in early life, so any genetic alteration that increases lifespan might
be expected to reduce fitness, for example. We show here
that a mutation that greatly increases the lifespan of the nematode
Caenorhabditis elegans does indeed exhibit a fitness cost,
as demonstrated during starvation cycles that may mimic field
conditions, thereby validating the pleiotropy theory of ageing.

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=13740