Folate acts in E. coli to accelerate C. elegans aging independently of bacterial biosynthesis

Virk, B.; Jia, J.; Maynard, C.A.; Raimundo, A.; Lefebvre, J.; Richards, S.A.; Chetina, N.; Liang, Y.; Helliwell, N.; Cipinska, M.; Weinkove, D.

doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2016.01.051

Folate acts in E. coli to accelerate C. elegans aging independently of bacterial biosynthesis

Virk, B.; Jia, J.; Maynard, C.A.; Raimundo, A.; Lefebvre, J.; Richards, S.A.; Chetina, N.; Liang, Y.; Helliwell, N.; Cipinska, M.; Weinkove, D.

Authors

B. Virk

J. Jia

C.A. Maynard

A. Raimundo

J. Lefebvre

S.A. Richards

N. Chetina

Y. Liang

N. Helliwell

M. Cipinska

Professor David Weinkove david.weinkove@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Abstract

Folates are cofactors for biosynthetic enzymes in all eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. Animals cannot synthesize folate and must acquire it from their diet or microbiota. Previously, we showed that inhibiting E. coli folate synthesis increases C. elegans lifespan. Here, we show that restriction or supplementation of C. elegans folate does not influence lifespan. Thus, folate is required in E. coli to shorten worm lifespan. Bacterial proliferation in the intestine has been proposed as a mechanism for the life-shortening influence of E. coli. However, we found no correlation between C. elegans survival and bacterial growth in a screen of 1,000+ E. coli deletion mutants. Nine mutants increased worm lifespan robustly, suggesting specific gene regulation is required for the life-shortening activity of E. coli. Disrupting the biosynthetic folate cycle did not increase lifespan. Thus, folate acts through a growth-independent route in E. coli to accelerate animal aging.

Citation

Virk, B., Jia, J., Maynard, C., Raimundo, A., Lefebvre, J., Richards, S., …Weinkove, D. (2016). Folate acts in E. coli to accelerate C. elegans aging independently of bacterial biosynthesis. Cell Reports, 14(7), 1611-1620. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2016.01.051

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Jan 14, 2016
Online Publication Date	Feb 11, 2016
Publication Date	Feb 23, 2016
Deposit Date	Jan 18, 2016
Publicly Available Date	Feb 12, 2016
Journal	Cell Reports
Print ISSN	2211-1247
Publisher	Cell Press
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	14
Issue	7
Pages	1611-1620
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2016.01.051