London: In a study on sex pheromones in a tiny worm, scientists have discovered a link between reproduction and lifespan through so-called small molecules.After realising the importance of these "small molecules," the researchers have found that the same family of pheromones also controls a stage in the worm’s life cycle, called the long-lived dauer larva. In this study, researchers wanted to identify the sex pheromone that attracts male C. elegans worms to the more common hermaphrodites this worm species has no females.For spotting the sex pheromone, scientists tested mixtures of chemicals produced by the worms. It was found that it was the work of a handful of sugar-like chemicals called ascarosides, which attracted the males. "One interesting aspect is that a whole family of compounds is necessary to elicit a biological response. One by itself doesn’t do much, but two or three together give a strong response," Nature quoted Frank Schroeder, last author of the paper and a scientist, as saying.In fact, the same group of compounds was also found to trigger young worms to enter the long-lived dauer stage. Young worms enter the dauer stage when they stop developing normally in the scarcity of food or in case the colonies become crowded. In dauer stage, the worms can live without eating or reproducing, for months, about ten times longer than the worm’s normal lifespan. At a time when the dauer finds greener pastures, it develops into an adult and resumes its ageing process. —ANI