A new paper by Billard et al. (DOI: j.cub.2020.08.004) reports that a 92-bp deletion in eak-3 alters steroid hormone dafachronic acid (DA) signaling in C. elegans resulting in increased environmental sensitivity for dauer induction and delayed reproductive growth. The findings reveal the genetic basis of choice between somatic maintenance and reproductive growth in response to environmental variation.

Billard, B., Vigne, P. & Braendle, C. A. (2020). Natural Mutational Event Uncovers a Life History Trade-Off via Hormonal Pleiotropy. Curr Biol, vol. 30, 1–13, November 2, 2020.