Gene Regulator Found
Researchers have discovered that the NHR-49 gene regulator in worms prevents egg cells from maturing without sperm and preserves the organism's reserve. On August 22, the journal Nature Communications published an article on how nutrition is linked to the decision to expend resources on reproduction in the roundworm C. elegans.
When the nhr-49 gene was disrupted, egg cells matured and were released without sperm, causing the organism to lose its yolk and fat reserves, and its lifespan was reduced. In C. elegans, sperm serve as a signal to initiate reproduction, and without this signal, egg cells remain in the oviduct.
A 2025 study by the same group found that sperm-free lines at 25 °C accumulated more fat and lived longer. The current article seeks to identify the molecular mechanism that maintains this waiting state, which was found to be NHR-49, a protein that regulates genes related to nutrition and fat metabolism.
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PubMed Central (PMC)
Nuclear hormone receptor NHR-49 is an essential regulator of stress resilience and healthy aging in Caenorhabditis elegans
The genome of Caenorhabditis elegans encodes 284 nuclear hormone receptor, which perform diverse functions in development and physiology. One of the best characterized of these is NHR-49, related in sequence and function to mammalian hepatocyte ...
August 24, 2026 6
