Increased longevity of EF-1 alpha high-fidelity mutants in Podospora anserina

Various translation initiation and elongation factors seem to participate in the control of the cellular proliferation and the ageing process in higher eukaryotes. Studies indicate that EF-1 alpha, one of the translation elongation factors, may be one of the major components involved. We here present the cloning of the filamentous fungus P. anserina EF-1 alpha encoding gene and show that strains bearing high fidelity mutations in the EF-1 alpha gene have a drastically increased longevity as well as an impairment in sporulation. This suggests that EF-1 alpha involved in the sexual and senescence processes in lower eukaryotes, through the control of translational errors.