In is trusted as a model to study aging and has enabled researchers to identify factors that can slow down the aging process. cells from toxic molecules Gata3 and other stresses. SKN-1 works by regulating the activity (or ‘expression’) of many genes in cells but it is not clear how this increases the lifespan of the worms. Steinbaugh et al. studied mutant worms that were lacking SKN-1. Unlike normal worms when the germline stem cells were removed from the mutants their lifespan did not increase. Further experiments analyzed the genes that are switched on by SKN-1 and identified many that are involved in fat metabolism in degrading other proteins and in detoxifying harmful molecules. The experiments also found that SKN-1 reduces the overall amount of fat stored in the body. Next Steinbaugh et al. investigated how SKN-1 stops fat from being stored. During reproduction cells in the gut produce yolk-which is rich in fats-that will be provided to germ cells to nourish the developing embryo. Worms lacking germline stem cells are not able to reproduce but they continue to make yolk. Steinbaugh et al. found that the build up of the yolk activates SKN-1 which in turn inhibits the further accumulation of fats. Steinbaugh et al.’s findings show that SKN-1 can be activated by fat molecules and plays a direct role in controlling the amount of fat stored in the body of the worms. A future challenge will be to identify the specific fat molecules that activate R788 SKN-1 which could provide a model for understanding how specific fats in human diets could have wide-ranging health benefits. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.07836.002 Introduction The nematode has been invaluable for identifying mechanisms that slow aging and may prevent chronic disease (Kenyon 2010 An intriguing finding that was first made in this organism is that when germline stem cells (GSCs) are ablated mechanisms are activated in somatic tissues that protect against stress and increase lifespan (Hsin and Kenyon 1999 Kenyon 2010 Antebi 2013 Hansen et al. 2013 GSC loss also increases lifespan in (Flatt et al. 2008 and castration has been associated with longevity in men (Min et al. 2012 suggesting that this relationship might be conserved. These beneficial effects of GSC removal may have evolved to maximize reproductive fitness under adversity (Partridge et al. 2005 Kenyon 2010 This relationship provides paradigms for how tissue nonautonomous signals influence aging (Kenyon 2010 and how a stem cell population communicates with the ‘niche’ that sustains it (Jones and Wagers 2008 In transcription factor SKN-1 controls a broad detoxification response to oxidative and xenobiotic stress and is orthologous to the mammalian Nrf1/2/3 (NF-E2-related factor) proteins (An and Blackwell 2003 Oliveira et al. 2009 Park et al. 2009 SKN-1/Nrf R788 proteins have been implicated in longevity from to rodents (An and Blackwell 2003 Bishop and Guarente 2007 Leiser and Miller 2010 Sykiotis and R788 Bohmann 2010 Steinbaugh et al. 2012 Ewald et al. 2015 Recent findings raise the question of whether these transcription regulators might also have important functions in lipid homeostasis. SKN-1/Nrf proteins influence expression of lipid metabolism genes (Oliveira R788 et al. 2009 Paek et al. 2012 Hayes and Dinkova-Kostova 2014 Tsujita et al. 2014 and SKN-1 has been linked to fat mobilization under particular starvation or dietary conditions (Paek et al. 2012 Pang et al. 2014 Mice that lack Nrf1 in the liver develop non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) that progresses to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and Nrf2?/? mice develop NASH on a high-fat diet (Xu et al. 2005 Okada et al. 2013 Tsujita et al. 2014 However reduced Nrf protein function is considered to predispose to NASH by impairing hepatic tension level of resistance (Xu et al. 2005 Lee et al. 2013 A knowledge of NAFLD can be a high concern because its occurrence is increasing like a sequella of metabolic symptoms (Cohen et al. 2011 Right here we analyzed the part of SKN-1 in the consequences of GSC lack on lifespan tension level of resistance and lipid rate of metabolism. Hereditary inhibition of GSCs activates SKN-1 raising lifespan and stress resistance R788 thereby. Expression profiling exposed that GSC(?) pets upregulate tension protection extracellular matrix and lipid rate of metabolism genes oftentimes influenced by in GSC(?) pets we examined temperature-sensitive (ts) mutations in mutants that undergo larval.