A cytosolic catalase is needed to extend adult lifespan in C. elegans daf-C and clk-1 mutants

James Taub, Joe F. Lau, Charles Ma, Jang Hee Hahn, Rafaz Hoque, Jonathan Rothblatt and Martin Chalfie ()
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James Taub: Columbia University
Joe F. Lau: Columbia University
Charles Ma: Columbia University
Jang Hee Hahn: Columbia University
Rafaz Hoque: Columbia University
Jonathan Rothblatt: Columbia University
Martin Chalfie: Columbia University

Nature, 1999, vol. 399, issue 6732, 162-166

Abstract: 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 lifespan1. 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 lifespan2. 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.

Date: 1999
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DOI: 10.1038/20208

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