James M Jordan, Jonathan D Hibshman, Amy K Webster, Rebecca E W Kaplan, Abigail Leinroth, Ryan Guzman, Colin S Maxwell, Rojin Chitrakar, Elizabeth Anne Bowman, Amanda L Fry, E Jane Albert Hubbard, L Ryan Baugh
The roundworm C. elegans reversibly arrests larval development during starvation [1], but extended early-life starvation reduces reproductive success [2, 3]. Maternal dietary restriction (DR) buffers progeny from starvation as young larvae, preserving reproductive success [4]. However, the developmental basis of reduced fertility following early-life starvation is unknown, and it is unclear how maternal diet modifies developmental physiology in progeny. We show here that extended starvation in first-stage (L1) larvae followed by unrestricted feeding results in a variety of developmental abnormalities in the reproductive system, including proliferative germ-cell tumors and uterine masses that express neuronal and epidermal cell fate markers...
June 13, 2019: Current Biology: CB