| abstract |
The present invention relates to a clk-2 gene which has a function at the level of cellular physiology involved in developmental rate, telomere length and longevity, wherein clk-2 mutations cause a longer life, an altered cellular metabolism and an altered telomere length relative to the wild type, wherein clk-2 overexpression leads to telomere shortening. The present invention also relates to clk-2 co-expressed gene which comprises a cex-7 gene having the nucleotide sequence set forth in Fig. 33 which codes for a CEX-7 protein having the amino acid sequence set forth in Fig. 34 wherein said gene is located in the clk-2 operon and said cex-7 gene is transcriptionally co-expressed with clk-2 gene present in said operon. The present invention also relates to a coq-4 gene which has a function at the level of cellular physiology involved in the regulation of developmental rate and longevity, wherein coq-4 mutations cause altered cellular metabolism and physiological relative to the wild type, wherein coq-4 gene has the identifying characteristics of nucleotide sequence set forth in Fig. 36. |