Oleic Acid Protects Mothers From Mating-Induced Death and the Cost of Reproduction. Author Leo Choi, Cheng Shi, Jasmine Ashraf, Salman Sohrabi, Coleen Murphy Publication Year 2021 Type Journal Article Abstract Reproduction comes at a cost, including accelerated death. Previous studies of the interconnections between reproduction, lifespan, and fat metabolism in were predominantly performed in low-reproduction conditions. To understand how increased reproduction affects lifespan and fat metabolism, we examined mated worms; we find that a Δ9 desaturase, FAT-7, is significantly up-regulated. Dietary supplementation of oleic acid (OA), the immediate downstream product of FAT-7 activity, restores fat storage and completely rescues mating-induced death, while other fatty acids cannot. OA-mediated lifespan restoration is also observed in mutants suffering increased death from short-term mating, and in mated females, indicating a conserved role of oleic acid in post-mating lifespan regulation. Our results suggest that increased reproduction can be uncoupled from the costs of reproduction from somatic longevity regulation if provided with the limiting lipid, oleic acid. Journal Front Cell Dev Biol Volume 9 Pages 690373 Date Published 2021 ISSN Number 2296-634X DOI 10.3389/fcell.2021.690373 Alternate Journal Front Cell Dev Biol PMCID PMC8226236 PMID 34179018 PubMedPubMed CentralGoogle ScholarBibTeXEndNote X3 XML