Manganous ion supplementation accelerates wild type development, enhances stress resistance, and rescues the life span of a short-lived Caenorhabditis elegans mutant.
Relative to iron and copper we know very little about the cellular roles of manganese. Some studies claim that manganese acts as a radical scavenger in unicellular organisms, while there have been other reports that manganese causes Parkinson's disease-like syndrome, DNA fragmentation, and interferes with cellular energy production. The goal of this study was to uncover if manganese has any free radical scavenging properties in the complex multicellular organism, Caenorhabditis elegans. We measured internal manganese in supplemented worms using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and the data obtained suggest that manganese supplemented to the growth medium is taken up by the worms. We found that manganese did not appear to be toxic as supplementation did not negatively effect development or fertility. In fact, supplementation at higher levels accelerated development and increased total fertility of wild type worms by 16%. Manganese-supplemented wild type worms were found to be thermotolerant and, under certain conditions, long-lived. In addition, the oxidatively challenged C. elegans strain mev-1's short life span was significantly increased after manganese supplementation. Although manganese appears to be beneficial to C. elegans, the mode of action remains unclear. Manganese may work directly as a free radical scavenger, as it has been postulated to do so in unicellular organisms, or may work indirectly by up regulating several protective factors.
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California State University, Fullerton, Fullerton, CA 92834, USA.
Yi-Ting
YT
Lin
Hanh
H
Hoang
Scott I
SI
Hsieh
Natalie
N
Rangel
Amanda L
AL
Foster
James N
JN
Sampayo
Gordon J
GJ
Lithgow
Chandra
C
Srinivasan
D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000494:pharmacology; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D005298:Fertility / Q000187:drug effects; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers / Q000494:pharmacology; D006358:Hot Temperature / Q000009:adverse effects; D008136:Longevity / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D008345:Manganese / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D017895:Manganese Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology; D009154:Mutation; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic; D013431:Sulfates / Q000494:pharmacology
D000975:Antioxidants; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers; D017895:Manganese Compounds; D013431:Sulfates; D008345:Manganese; C039798:manganese sulfate