Dietary and microbiome factors determine longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans

Diet composition affects organismal health. Nutrient uptake depends on the microbiome. Caenorhabditis elegans fed a Bacillus subtilis diet live longer than those fed the standard Escherichia coli diet. Here we report that this longevity difference is primarily caused by dietary coQ, an antioxidant synthesized by E. coli but not by B. subtilis. CoQ‐supplemented E. coli fed worms have a lower oxidation state yet live shorter than coQ‐less B. subtilis fed worms. We showed that mutations affecting longevity for E. coli fed worms do not always lead to similar effects when worms are fed B. subtilis. We propose that coQ supplementation by the E. coli diet alters the worm cellular REDOX homeostasis, thus decreasing longevity. Our results highlight the importance of microbiome factors in longevity, argue that antioxidant supplementation can be detrimental, and suggest that the C. elegans standard E. coli diet can alter the effect of signaling pathways on longevity.This work was supported by grants to FM from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (SAF2011-30518, SAF2014-59716-R, and RD12/0036/0065 from Red Temática de Investigación Cooperativa en Cáncer, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, cofunded by the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional of the European Union), and European Community’s 7th Framework Programme (HEALTH-F2-2011-256986, PANACREAS). AS-B was supported by the CSIC JAEDoc program and by the Stanford Center on Longevity. The Grupo de Investigación en Polifenoles was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (BFU2012-35228).Peer reviewe