Mutation accumulation underpins evolution of lifespan extension by dietary restriction

Dietary restriction (DR) extends lifespan in animals and plants, but its evolutionary causes are elusive. Adaptive hypotheses posit that DR extends lifespan because organisms reallocate resources from reproduction to survival (‘disposable soma’) or recycle cellular waste to maximize either their immediate reproduction (‘nutrient recycling’) or survival (‘clean cupboards’). We developed an experimental paradigm that tricks Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes into increasing their reproductive effort under DR via food odour, thus allowing us to test these hypotheses. We found that experimentally increased reproduction under DR does not affect immediate or long-term survival benefits compared to DR animals that did not reproduce, thus refuting all three adaptive hypotheses. Our data suggest that a large part of suppressed fertility under DR is a result of organisms refraining from producing offspring in a poor environment. We developed a model based on Hamiltonian forces of selection to show that lifespan extension under DR evolves because DR suppresses fertility, directly increasing selection against mortality in DR environment. Our analytical approach suggests that DR-driven lifespan extension can evolve under a broader range of conditions not previously anticipated, such as a relaxed need for physiological or genetic trade-offs. Instead, we show how reduced survival on plentiful food can evolve via mutation accumulation.