TY - JOUR AU - Nguyen, Theresa PT AU - Clarke, Catherine F. PY - 2012 DA - 2012/07/31 TI - Folate status of gut microbiome affects Caenorhabditis eleganslifespan JO - BMC Biology SP - 66 VL - 10 IS - 1 AB - In a paper in BMC Biology Virk et al. show that Caenorhabditis elegans lifespan is extended in response to a diet of folate-deficient Escherichia coli. The deficiencies in folate biosynthesis were due to an aroD mutation, or treatment of E. coli with sulfa drugs, which are mimics of the folate precursor para-aminobenzoic acid. This study suggests that pharmacological manipulation of the gut microbiome folate status may be a viable approach to slow animal aging, and raises questions about folate supplementation. SN - 1741-7007 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/1741-7007-10-66 DO - 10.1186/1741-7007-10-66 ID - Nguyen2012 ER -