Metabolic Outsourcing: How Bacteria Extend the Lives of Worms
The laboratory worm Caenorhabditis elegans feeds on Escherichia coli its whole life, but in nature its diet consists of rotting plants rich in bacilli and lactic acid bacteria. One such bacterium, Lactococcus lactis JCM 5805, extends the worm's life by four days, while another, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum MAFF 401534, produces no such effect. Why?