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The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences Advance Access originally published online on August 11, 2009
The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 2009 64A(11):1134-1145; doi:10.1093/gerona/glp112
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Genetic (Co)Variation for Life Span in Rhabditid Nematodes: Role of Mutation, Selection, and History

Joanna Joyner-Matos1,2, Ambuj Upadhyay1, Matthew P. Salomon1, Veronica Grigaltchik1 and Charles F. Baer1

1 Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville
2 Present address: Department of Biology, Eastern Washington University, Cheney

Address correspondence to Joanna Joyner-Matos, PhD, Department of Biology, Eastern Washington University, 258 Science Building, Cheney, WA 99004-2440. Email: jmatos{at}mail.ewu.edu


  Abstract

The evolutionary mechanisms maintaining genetic variation in life span, particularly post-reproductive life span, are poorly understood. We characterized the effects of spontaneous mutations on life span in the rhabditid nematodes Caenorhabditis elegans and C. briggsae and standing genetic variance for life span and correlation of life span with fitness in C. briggsae. Mutations decreased mean life span, a signature of directional selection. Mutational correlations between life span and fitness were consistently positive. The average selection coefficient against new mutations in C. briggsae was approximately 2% when homozygous. The pattern of phylogeographic variation in life span is inconsistent with global mutation–selection balance (MSB), but MSB appears to hold at the local level. Standing genetic correlations in C. briggsae reflect mutational correlations at a local scale but not at a broad phylogeographic level. At the local scale, results are broadly consistent with predictions of the "mutation accumulation" hypothesis for the evolution of aging.

Keywords Mutation; genetic variation; nematode; life span; selection

Received: December 4, 2008; Accepted: July 15, 2009

Decision Editor: Huber R. Warner, PhD


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