Sex-specific growth and lifespan effects of germline removal in the dioecious nematode Caenorhabditis remanei.

ABSTRACT: Germline regulates the expression of life-history traits and mediates the trade-off between reproduction and somatic maintenance. However, germline maintenance in itself can be costly, and the costs can vary between the sexes depending on the number of gametes produced across the lifetime. We tested this directly by germline ablation using glp-1 RNA interference (RNAi) in a dioecious nematode Caenorhabditis remanei. Germline removal strongly increased heat-shock resistance in both sexes, thus confirming the role of the germline in regulating somatic maintenance. However, germline removal resulted in increased lifespan only in males. High costs of mating strongly reduced lifespan in both sexes and obliterated the survival benefit of germline-less males even though neither sex produced any o

SUBMITTER: Lind MI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11561660 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature