Ivimey-Cook ER, Sales K, Carlsson H, Immler S, Chapman T, Maklakov AA (2021) Transgenerational fitness effects of lifespan extension by dietary restriction in Caenorhabditis elegans. Proc R Soc B, https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.0701
So, intergenerational effects (F1) improve fitness in the same intermittentfasting environment at the cost to fitness in the control environment – makes sense in every way and nice to see such clear result. Adaptive parental effects that come at a cost.
Transgenerational effects – they affect both lifespan and fitness up to F3! But – they reduce fitness of great-grandoffspring, not only that, they remove lifespan extension effect that is normally conferred byintermittentfasting!
In short, transgenerational (F3) effects of dietary restriction via intermittentfasting do occur but sometimes it would be better without them! Intergenerational effects are good when parents correctly guess offspring environment, otherwise not so much.
Transgenerational and intergenerational trade-offs is something to consider when studying their evolution.
