Authors: Johnson TE
Abstract: A mutation in the age-1 gene of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been shown to result in a 65 percent increase in mean life-span and a 110 percent increase in maximum life-span at 25 degrees. One of the hallmarks of organismic aging and senescent processes is an exponential acceleration of age-specific mortality rate with chronological age. This exponential acceleration is under genetic control: age-1 mutant hermaphrodites show a 50 percent slower rate of acceleration of mortality with chronological age than wild-type strains. Mutant males also show a lengthening of life and a slowing of the rate of acceleration of mortality, although age-1 mutant males still have significantly shorter life-spans than do hermaphrodites of the same genotype. The slower rates of acceleration of mortality are recessive characteristics of the age-1 mutant alleles examined.
Keywords: Aging/*genetics; Animals; Caenorhabditis/genetics/*growth & development; Disorders of Sex Development; Life Expectancy; Male; *Mutation|
Journal: Science (New York, N.Y.) Volume: 249 Issue: 4971 Pages: 908-12 Date: Aug. 24, 1990 PMID: 2392681 |
Johnson TE (1990) Increased life-span of age-1 mutants in Caenorhabditis elegans and lower Gompertz rate of aging. Science (New York, N.Y.) 249: 908-12.
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