Oleic Acid Protects Mothers From Mating-Induced Death and the Cost of Reproduction.

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
Alternate Journal
Front Cell Dev Biol
PMCID
PMC8226236
PMID
34179018