Project
Calorie Restriction and life span extension in P. anserina
For many organisms, including humans, calorie restriction is known to have a positive effect on life span. Currently a discussion is going on whether this is really calorie restriction or dietary restriction that causes this effect.
Description:
Podospora anserina is a filamentous fungus that can be grown on well defined media and has a limited lifespan with well described ageing effects. So far, most research has focused on one laboratory strain that lives up to 3 weeks in which it slowly deteriorates, loses its fertility and finally dies. In our collection we have many wild type isolates that could be used for studies about the underlying mechanisms of the ageing phenomena in nature. The use of well-defined purely synthetic media makes it possible to study the effects of dietary changes on the life span of the fungus in detail.
Used skills:
microbiological and molecular biology skills, some statistical analysis to interpret the results.
Requirements:
Molecular and Evolutionary Ecology (GEN20304) and Genetic Analysis Tools and Concepts (GEN30306) are good preparations.
Reference:
Maas et al., (2004) The mitochondrial plasmid pAL2 reduces calorie restriction mediated life span extension in the filamentous fungus Podospora anserina. Fungal Genet. Biol. 41: 865-71.