AnAge entry for Nothobranchius furzeri
Classification (HAGRID: 03990)
- Taxonomy
-
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Teleostei
Order: Cyprinodontiformes
Family: Aplocheilidae
Genus: Nothobranchius (Taxon entry)
- Species
- Nothobranchius furzeri
- Common name
- Turquoise killifish
Lifespan, ageing, and relevant traits
- Maximum longevity
- 1.1 years (captivity)
- Source
- ref. 1120
- Sample size
- Large
- Data quality
- Acceptable
- Observations
The turquoise killifish is an extremely short-lived animal that shows an accelerated ageing process. Compared with similar species, these animals also mature earlier and grow quicker [0663]. They are the shortest-lived vertebrate species bred in the lab [1197]. Large differences in ageing phenotypes have been observed between strains with maximum lifespan in a laboratory strain reportedly of 32 weeks [0889]. However, wild-derived populations can live over one year in the lab [1120]. Differences in lifespan between strains have been genetically linked to sex [1227]. The sex chromosomes of turquoise killifish display features of early mammalian XY evolution [1228].
Ageing turquoise killifish show reduced learning performances, gliosis and reduced adult neurogenesis. One study demonstrated that as these animals age neurogenesis and extracellular matrix genes rapidly decay in the brain and synaptic and axonal genes progressively decay [1198]. Genes related to ageing are clustered in specific regions of the genome [1228]. Telomerase deficient turquoise killifish display the fastest onset of telomere related pathologies among vertebrates [1197].
Due to its natural habitat, the turquoise killifish has evolved so that it has two states: a fast-growing phase for the rainy season, noted by its fast development, sexual maturation and aging, and a diapause phase for the dry season, noted by the suspension of development. This diapause state is rather unique, since it is resistant to several stresses and to damage caused by ageing, making it an interesting prospect for ageing research [1360].
Life history traits (averages)
- Female sexual maturity
- Male sexual maturity
- 28 days
- Adult weight
Metabolism
No information on metabolism is available.
References
- [1360] Hu and Brunet (2018), The African turquoise killifish: A research organism to study vertebrate aging and diapause (PubMed)
- [1272] Blazek et al. (2017), Repeated intraspecific divergence in life span and aging of African annual fishes along an aridity gradient (PubMed)
- [1259] Harel et al. (2016), Efficient genome engineering approaches for the short-lived African turquoise killifish (PubMed)
- [1227] Valenzano et al. (2015), The African Turquoise Killifish Genome Provides Insights into Evolution and Genetic Architecture of Lifespan (PubMed)
- [1228] Reichwald et al. (2015), Insights into Sex Chromosome Evolution and Aging from the Genome of a Short-Lived Fish (PubMed)
- [1197] Harel et al. (2015), A platform for rapid exploration of aging and diseases in a naturally short-lived vertebrate (PubMed)
- [1198] Baumgart et al. (2014), RNA-seq of the aging brain in the short-lived fish N. furzeri - conserved pathways and novel genes associated with neurogenesis (PubMed)
- [1120] Tozzini et al. (2013), Parallel evolution of senescence in annual fishes in response to extrinsic mortality (PubMed)
- [1113] Graf et al. (2013), Absence of replicative senescence in cultured cells from the short-lived killifish Nothobranchius furzeri (PubMed)
- [0929] Di Cicco et al. (2011), The short-lived annual fish Nothobranchius furzeri shows a typical teleost aging process reinforced by high incidence of age-dependent neoplasias (PubMed)
- [0933] Hartmann et al. (2009), Telomeres shorten while Tert expression increases during ageing of the short-lived fish Nothobranchius furzeri (PubMed)
- [0889] Terzibasi et al. (2008), Large differences in aging phenotype between strains of the short-lived annual fish Nothobranchius furzeri (PubMed)
- [0654] Genade et al. (2005), Annual fishes of the genus Nothobranchius as a model system for aging research (PubMed)
- [0663] Valdesalici and Cellerino (2003), Extremely short lifespan in the annual fish Nothobranchius furzeri (PubMed)
- [0832] NFIN - The Nothobranchius furzeri Information Network
External Resources
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System
- ITIS 647428
- Animal Diversity Web
- ADW account (if available)
- Encyclopaedia of Life
- Search EOL
- NCBI Taxonomy
- Taxonomy ID 105023
- Entrez
- Search all databases
- Ageing Literature
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- Images
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- Internet
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