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Updated: Jun 18, 2026
A Suppressor Screen for the Characterization of Genetic Links Regulating Chronological Lifespan in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Published on: September 17, 2020
The Caenorhabditis elegans sirtuin gene, sir-2.1, is widely expressed and induced upon caloric restriction
Sophie Bamps1, Julia Wirtz, Fiona R Savory
1Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, The University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK. s.bamps@leeds.ac.uk
Introduction:
As in yeast, flies and mammals, over-expression of the Caenorhabditis elegans sirtuin gene sir-2.1 leads to extension of lifespan and deletion of the gene shortens lifespan. The sir-2.1 gene, however, is located in an operon, an organization not taken into account in previous studies of this gene's expression.
Materials And Methods:
Recombineering allowed insertion of both a mCherry and a gfp reporter gene precisely at the end of the two protein-coding regions of the 4.5kb sir-2.1 operon within a 29.3kb genomic DNA fosmid clone.
Results And Discussion:
In C. elegans transgenic for this recombineered fosmid, with abundant food, the sir-2.1::mCherry distribution indicated that sir-2.1 is indeed expressed in the hypodermis and many nerve cells, as previously described, but also in the intestine and in muscles. This broader expression of sir-2.1, which would fit with an expectation that SIR2.1 function in influencing lifespan might be required in most cell types, arises from transcription starting with the gene upstream of sir-2.1 in the operon. Importantly, the expression of both genes in the operon increases upon starvation, this induction also depending on the operon promoter. Furthermore, SIR-2.1::mCherry undergoes a dynamic subcellular relocalization through starvation.
