When stress predicts a shrinking gene pool, trading early reproduction for longevity can increase fitness, even with lower fecundity.

Stresses like dietary restriction or various toxins increase lifespan in taxa as diverse as yeast, Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila and rats, by triggering physiological responses that also tend to delay reproduction. Food odors can reverse the effects of dietary restriction, showing that key mech...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: William C Ratcliff, Peter Hawthorne, Michael Travisano, R Ford Denison
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2009-06-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2699099?pdf=render