survival. The five micro liter (5 ml) aliquots of dauer larvae suspension were spotted on the petri dish (.10 spots). Those worms showing L4 stage (exit from the dauer stage) and dead worms were removed from the plate and excluded from worm counting (usually 1–2%). About 5 ml aliquots of dauer larvae suspension were treated with 1% SDS and survival rate was determined 1 h after SDS treatment. Values represent the means (6 SDs) of each test, which was repeated five times. For the statistical analysis, we used student’s t-test which has been used previously [41]. For most of data point, p values are present in a conventional way (from the larger to the smaller values). Supporting Information Figure S1 Structure of the pdhk-2 gene. The pdhk-2 gene (indicated by the black box) is located on chromosome III in C. elegans, and is comprised of 8 exons and 7 introns. The gray boxes denote exons while white boxes, black lines, and dotted lines represent translated regions, introns, and deleted segments, respectively. Mutant tm3075 has a deletion that encompasses regions of exon 6, intron 5, and part of intron 6, which correspond to a portion of the ATPase-like ATP binding region and the histidine kinase motif. Mutant tm3086 has a deletion in exons 3 and 4, as well as and introns 2 and 3, which are translated into mitochondrial branched-chain alpha ketoacid dehydrogenase kinase. (TIF) Figure S2 Lifespan and fat content of pdhk-2 mutants under well-fed conditions. (A) Lifespan analysis of N2, pdhk- References 1. Braeckman BP, Houthoofd K, Vanfleteren JR (2001) Insulin-like signalling, metabolism, stress resistance and aging in Caenorhabditis elegans. Mech Ageing Dev 122: 673–693. 2. Artal-Sanz M, Tavernarakis N (2008) Mechanisms of aging and energy metabolism in Caenorhabditis elegans. IUBMB Life 60: 315–322. 3. 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