Authors: Taub J; Lau JF; Ma C; Hahn JH; Hoque R; Rothblatt J; Chalfie M
Abstract: The dauer larva is an alternative larval stage in Caenorhabditis elegans which allows animals to survive through periods of low food availability. Well-fed worms live for about three weeks, but dauer larvae can live for at least two months without affecting post-dauer lifespan. Mutations in daf-2 and age-1, which produce a dauer constitutive (Daf-C) phenotype, and in clk-1, which are believed to slow metabolism, markedly increase adult lifespan. Here we show that a ctl-1 mutation reduces adult lifespan in otherwise wild-type animals and eliminates the daf-c and clk-1-mediated extension of adult lifespan. ctl-1 encodes an unusual cytosolic catalase; a second gene, ctl-2, encodes a peroxisomal catalase. ctl-1 messenger RNA is increased in dauer larvae and adults with the daf-c mutations. We suggest that the ctl-1 catalase is needed during periods of starvation, as in the dauer larva, and that its misexpression in daf-c and clk-1 adults extends lifespan. Cytosolic catalase may have evolved to protect nematodes from oxidative damage produced during prolonged dormancy before reproductive maturity, or it may represent a general mechanism for permitting organisms to cope with the metabolic changes that accompany starvation.
Keywords: Animals; Caenorhabditis elegans/enzymology/genetics/*physiology; *Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; Catalase/genetics/*physiology; Cytosol/enzymology; Gene Expression; Genes, Helminth; Helminth Proteins/genetics/*physiology; Longevity/genetics/*physiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Mutation; Oxidative Stress; Recombinant Fusion Proteins/genetics/metabolism
Journal: Nature Volume: 399 Issue: 6732 Pages: 162-6 Date: May 21, 1999 PMID: 10335847 |
Taub J, Lau JF, Ma C, Hahn JH, Hoque R, Rothblatt J, Chalfie M (1999) A cytosolic catalase is needed to extend adult lifespan in C. elegans daf-C and clk-1 mutants. Nature 399: 162-6.
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