Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

LONGEVITY

Homme fatal: how males cause demise

Nature Aging volume 2, pages 773–774 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

While C. elegans males are known to induce demise of hermaphrodites, the mechanism underlying this phenomenon is poorly understood. Through transcriptomic analyses, Booth et al. identify specific hermaphrodite gene sets that respond to male pheromones, sperm and seminal fluid and can mediate premature death of hermaphrodites.

Mating, or the simple presence of the opposite sex, can shorten the lifespans of animals ranging from the worm Caenorhabditis elegans to mammals1,2,3,4. In C. elegans, which exist largely as self-fertilizing hermaphrodites, mating with males or even just exposure to male-secreted pheromones leads to an earlier death in hermaphrodites1,2. As reported in this issue, three sets of genes systematically identified by Booth et al.5 promote hermaphrodites’ early demise in response to male pheromones in the absence of mating or to male sperm or seminal fluid upon mating. The identification of these gene sets provides molecular insight into how perception of males or mating with males causes hermaphrodites to live shorter lives.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Males cause hermaphrodite demise through multiple ways.

References

  1. Shi, C. & Murphy, C. T. Science 343, 536–540 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Maures, T. J. et al. Science 343, 541–544 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Gendron, C. M. et al. Science 343, 544–548 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Garratt, M., Try, H., Smiley, K. O., Grattan, D. R. & Brooks, R. C. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 117, 15748–15754 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Booth, L. N. et al. Nat. Aging https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-022-00276-y (2022).

  6. Croze, M. L. et al. J. Nutr. Biochem. 24, 457–466 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Shi, D. et al. Nat. Commun. 11, 4496 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Murphy, C. T. & Hu, P. J. WormBook (ed. The C. elegans Research Community) https://doi.org/10.1895/wormbook.1.164.1 (2013).

  9. Miller, H. A. et al. Nat. Commun. 13, 3271 (2022).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Brock, T. J., Browse, J. & Watts, J. L. Genetics 176, 865–875 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Han, S. et al. Nature 544, 185–190 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Choi, L. S., Shi, C., Ashraf, J., Sohrabi, S. & Murphy, C. T. Front. Cell Dev. Biol. 9, 690373 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Shi, C., Booth, L. N. & Murphy, C. T. eLife 8, e46413 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Arnqvist, G. & Rowe, L. Nature 415, 787–789 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Galimov, E. R. & Gems, D. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 376, 20190730 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA

    Deniz Sifoglu & Joy Alcedo

Authors
  1. Deniz Sifoglu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Joy Alcedo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joy Alcedo.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sifoglu, D., Alcedo, J. Homme fatal: how males cause demise. Nat Aging 2, 773–774 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-022-00274-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-022-00274-0

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing