Sex and death: what is the connection?

UCL Centre for Research on Ageing, Department of Biology, University College London, Darwin Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom. l.partridge@ucl.ac.uk

A cost of reproduction, where lifespan and fecundity are negatively correlated, is of widespread occurrence. Mutations in insulin/IGF signaling (IIS) pathways and dietary restriction (DR) can extend lifespan in model organisms but do not always reduce fecundity, suggesting that the link between lifespan and fecundity is not inevitable. Understanding the molecular basis of the cost of reproduction will be informed by elucidation of the mechanisms by which DR and IIS affect these two traits.

PMID: 15734679 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]