A ‘unique self-destructive process’ in C.elegans and implications for efforts to slow Human ageing

As some nematode worm mothers age, they secrete a milk-like fluid that is consumed by their offspring and supports their growth, in a self-destructive process discovered by a team led by Prof David Gems and Dr Carina Carla Kern. The discovery received wide press coverage, including Mail Online, Independent ], Evening Standard, Metro, Sky News, Belfast Telegraph, Yahoo! News, IFLScience, Sveriges Radio (Sweden), Infobae (Argentina), as well as various regional newspapers and print only: Sun, Glasgow Herald.

ABSTRACT

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans exhibits rapid senescence that is promoted by the insulin/IGF-1 signalling (IIS) pathway via regulated processes that are poorly understood. IIS also promotes production of yolk for egg provisioning, which in post-reproductive animals continues in an apparently futile fashion, supported by destructive repurposing of intestinal biomass that contributes to senescence. Here we show that post-reproductive mothers vent yolk which can be consumed by larvae and promotes their growth. This implies that later yolk production is not futile; instead vented yolk functions similarly to milk. Moreover, yolk venting is promoted by IIS. These findings suggest that a self-destructive, lactation-like process effects resource transfer from postreproductive C. elegans mothers to offspring, in a fashion reminiscent of semelparous organisms that reproduce in a single, suicidal burst. That this process is promoted by IIS provides insights into how and why IIS shortens lifespan in C. elegans.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25821-y