Xenohormetic, hormetic and cytostatic selective forces driving longevity at the ecosystemic level

Alexander A. Goldberg¹, Pavlo Kyryakov, Simon D. Bourque, Vladimir I. Titorenko

¹Department of Biology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec H4B 1R6, Canada

Received: July 24, 2010Accepted: August 6, 2010Published: August 7, 2010

Copyright: © 2010 Goldberg et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

We recently found that lithocholic acid (LCA), a bile acid, extends yeast longevity. Unlike mammals, yeast do not synthesize bile acids. We therefore propose that bile acids released into the environment by mammals may act as interspecies chemical signals providing longevity benefits to yeast and, perhaps, other species within an ecosystem.