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Gonçalves C, Harrison MC, Steenwyk JL, Opulente DA, LaBella AL, Wolters JF, Zhou X, Shen XX, Groenewald M, Hittinger CT, Rokas A. Diverse signatures of convergent evolution in cactus-associated yeasts. PLoS Biol 2024; 22:e3002832. [PMID: 39312572 PMCID: PMC11449361 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002832] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2024] [Revised: 10/03/2024] [Accepted: 09/05/2024] [Indexed: 09/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Many distantly related organisms have convergently evolved traits and lifestyles that enable them to live in similar ecological environments. However, the extent of phenotypic convergence evolving through the same or distinct genetic trajectories remains an open question. Here, we leverage a comprehensive dataset of genomic and phenotypic data from 1,049 yeast species in the subphylum Saccharomycotina (Kingdom Fungi, Phylum Ascomycota) to explore signatures of convergent evolution in cactophilic yeasts, ecological specialists associated with cacti. We inferred that the ecological association of yeasts with cacti arose independently approximately 17 times. Using a machine learning-based approach, we further found that cactophily can be predicted with 76% accuracy from both functional genomic and phenotypic data. The most informative feature for predicting cactophily was thermotolerance, which we found to be likely associated with altered evolutionary rates of genes impacting the cell envelope in several cactophilic lineages. We also identified horizontal gene transfer and duplication events of plant cell wall-degrading enzymes in distantly related cactophilic clades, suggesting that putatively adaptive traits evolved independently through disparate molecular mechanisms. Notably, we found that multiple cactophilic species and their close relatives have been reported as emerging human opportunistic pathogens, suggesting that the cactophilic lifestyle-and perhaps more generally lifestyles favoring thermotolerance-might preadapt yeasts to cause human disease. This work underscores the potential of a multifaceted approach involving high-throughput genomic and phenotypic data to shed light onto ecological adaptation and highlights how convergent evolution to wild environments could facilitate the transition to human pathogenicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carla Gonçalves
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Associate Laboratory i4HB—Institute for Health and Bioeconomy and UCIBIO—Applied Molecular Biosciences Unit, Department of Life Sciences, NOVA School of Science and Technology, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal
- UCIBIO-i4HB, Departamento de Ciências da Vida, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal
| | - Marie-Claire Harrison
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Jacob L. Steenwyk
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Howards Hughes Medical Institute and the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America
| | - Dana A. Opulente
- Laboratory of Genetics, DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Center for Genomic Science Innovation, J. F. Crow Institute for the Study of Evolution, Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
- Biology Department, Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Abigail L. LaBella
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - John F. Wolters
- Laboratory of Genetics, DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Center for Genomic Science Innovation, J. F. Crow Institute for the Study of Evolution, Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | - Xiaofan Zhou
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Microbial Signals and Disease Control, Integrative Microbiology Research Center, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xing-Xing Shen
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- College of Agriculture and Biotechnology and Centre for Evolutionary & Organismal Biology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | | | - Chris Todd Hittinger
- Laboratory of Genetics, DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Center for Genomic Science Innovation, J. F. Crow Institute for the Study of Evolution, Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | - Antonis Rokas
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
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Matsuda Y, Makino T. Comparative genomics reveals convergent signals associated with the high metabolism and longevity in birds and bats. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20241068. [PMID: 39191281 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.1068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2024] [Revised: 06/27/2024] [Accepted: 07/24/2024] [Indexed: 08/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Birds and bats have long lifespans relative to their body size compared with non-flying animals. However, the genomic basis associated with longer lifespan of flying species despite their higher metabolism was unclear. In this study, we hypothesized that genes involved in the regulation of metabolism and lifespan changed with the acquisition of flight and searched for genes that show specific evolutionary patterns in flying species. As a result, we identified several genes that show different evolutionary rates in bird and bat lineages. Genes in pathways involved in lifespan regulation were conserved in birds, while they evolved at an accelerated rate in bats. We also searched for genes in which convergent amino acid substitutions occurred in birds and bats and found such substitutions in genes involved in cancer, reactive oxygen species control and immunity. Our study revealed genomic changes associated with the acquisition of flight in birds and bats and suggested that multiple genes involved in the regulation of lifespan and metabolism support both high metabolism and longevity in flying species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuki Matsuda
- United Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Saiwai-cho , Fuchu-shi, Tokyo 183-8509, Japan
- Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Aoba-ku , Sendai 980-8578, Japan
| | - Takashi Makino
- Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Aoba-ku , Sendai 980-8578, Japan
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3
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Udroiu I, Sgura A. Coevolution of non-homologous end joining efficiency and encephalization. J Evol Biol 2024; 37:818-828. [PMID: 38738785 DOI: 10.1093/jeb/voae057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2020] [Revised: 04/15/2024] [Accepted: 05/10/2024] [Indexed: 05/14/2024]
Abstract
Double-strand breaks (DSB), the most difficult to repair DNA damage, are mainly repaired by non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) or homologous recombination (HR). Previous studies seem to indicate that primates, and particularly humans, have a better NHEJ system. A distinctive feature of the primate lineage (beside longevity) is encephalization, i.e., the expansion of the brain relative to body mass (BM). Using existing transcriptome data from 34 mammalian species, we investigated the possible correlations between the expression of genes involved in NHEJ and encephalization, BM, and longevity. The same was done also for genes involved in the HR pathway. We found that, while HR gene expression is better correlated with longevity, NHEJ gene expression is strongly (and better) correlated with encephalization. Since the brain is composed of postmitotic cells, DSB repair should be mainly performed by NHEJ in this organ. Therefore, we interpret the correlation we found as an indication that NHEJ efficiency coevolved with encephalization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ion Udroiu
- Department of Sciences, Università Roma Tre, Viale G. Marconi 446, 00146 Rome, Italy
| | - Antonella Sgura
- Department of Sciences, Università Roma Tre, Viale G. Marconi 446, 00146 Rome, Italy
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4
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Kanoh T, Mizoguchi T, Tonoki A, Itoh M. Modeling of age-related neurological disease: utility of zebrafish. Front Aging Neurosci 2024; 16:1399098. [PMID: 38765773 PMCID: PMC11099255 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2024.1399098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2024] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Many age-related neurological diseases still lack effective treatments, making their understanding a critical and urgent issue in the globally aging society. To overcome this challenge, an animal model that accurately mimics these diseases is essential. To date, many mouse models have been developed to induce age-related neurological diseases through genetic manipulation or drug administration. These models help in understanding disease mechanisms and finding potential therapeutic targets. However, some age-related neurological diseases cannot be fully replicated in human pathology due to the different aspects between humans and mice. Although zebrafish has recently come into focus as a promising model for studying aging, there are few genetic zebrafish models of the age-related neurological disease. This review compares the aging phenotypes of humans, mice, and zebrafish, and provides an overview of age-related neurological diseases that can be mimicked in mouse models and those that cannot. We presented the possibility that reproducing human cerebral small vessel diseases during aging might be difficult in mice, and zebrafish has potential to be another animal model of such diseases due to their similarity of aging phenotype to humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tohgo Kanoh
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan
| | - Takamasa Mizoguchi
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan
| | - Ayako Tonoki
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan
| | - Motoyuki Itoh
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan
- Research Institute of Disaster Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan
- Health and Disease Omics Center, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan
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5
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Gemmell P, Sackton TB, Edwards SV, Liu JS. A phylogenetic method linking nucleotide substitution rates to rates of continuous trait evolution. PLoS Comput Biol 2024; 20:e1011995. [PMID: 38656999 PMCID: PMC11078400 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2023] [Revised: 05/08/2024] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Genomes contain conserved non-coding sequences that perform important biological functions, such as gene regulation. We present a phylogenetic method, PhyloAcc-C, that associates nucleotide substitution rates with changes in a continuous trait of interest. The method takes as input a multiple sequence alignment of conserved elements, continuous trait data observed in extant species, and a background phylogeny and substitution process. Gibbs sampling is used to assign rate categories (background, conserved, accelerated) to lineages and explore whether the assigned rate categories are associated with increases or decreases in the rate of trait evolution. We test our method using simulations and then illustrate its application using mammalian body size and lifespan data previously analyzed with respect to protein coding genes. Like other studies, we find processes such as tumor suppression, telomere maintenance, and p53 regulation to be related to changes in longevity and body size. In addition, we also find that skeletal genes, and developmental processes, such as sprouting angiogenesis, are relevant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Gemmell
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Department of Statistics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Timothy B. Sackton
- FAS Informatics Group, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Scott V. Edwards
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Jun S. Liu
- Department of Statistics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
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6
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Perillo M, Silla A, Punzo A, Caliceti C, Kriete A, Sell C, Lorenzini A. Peto's paradox: Nature has used multiple strategies to keep cancer at bay while evolving long lifespans and large body masses. A systematic review. Biomed J 2024; 47:100654. [PMID: 37604250 PMCID: PMC10973980 DOI: 10.1016/j.bj.2023.100654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2023] [Revised: 08/04/2023] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Comparative oncology is an understudied field of science. We are far from understanding the key mechanisms behind Peto's paradox, i.e., understanding how long-lived and large animals are not subject to a higher cancer burden despite the longer exposure time to mutations and the larger number of cells exposed. In this work, we investigated the scientific evidence on such mechanisms through a systematic mini-review of the literature about the relation of longevity and/or large body mass with physiological, genetic, or environmental traits among mammalian species. More than forty thousand articles were retrieved from three repositories, and 383 of them were screened using an active-learning-based tool. Of those, 36 articles on longevity and 37 on body mass were selected for the review. Such articles were examined focusing on: number and type of species considered, statistical methods used, traits investigated, and observed relationship with longevity and/or body mass. Where applicable, the traits investigated were matched with one or more hallmarks of cancer. We obtained a list of potential candidate traits to explain Peto's paradox related to replicative immortality, cell senescence, genome instability and mutations, proliferative signaling, growth suppression evasion, and cell resistance to death. Our investigation suggests that different strategies have been followed to prevent cancer in large and long-lived species. The large number of papers retrieved emphasizes that more studies can be launched in the future, using more efficient analytical approaches to comprehensively evaluate the convergent biological mechanisms essential for acquiring longevity and large body mass without increasing cancer risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matteo Perillo
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy.
| | - Alessia Silla
- Department for Life Quality Studies, University of Bologna, Italy
| | - Angela Punzo
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy; National Institute of Biosystems and Biostructures INBB, Rome, Italy
| | - Cristiana Caliceti
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy; National Institute of Biosystems and Biostructures INBB, Rome, Italy
| | - Andres Kriete
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Christian Sell
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Antonello Lorenzini
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy; National Institute of Biosystems and Biostructures INBB, Rome, Italy
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7
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Ports BL, Jensen-Seaman MI. Convergent rates of protein evolution identify novel targets of sexual selection in primates. Evolution 2024; 78:364-377. [PMID: 37864838 PMCID: PMC10834059 DOI: 10.1093/evolut/qpad188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2023] [Revised: 10/02/2023] [Accepted: 10/19/2023] [Indexed: 10/23/2023]
Abstract
Sexual selection is the differential reproductive success of individuals, resulting from competition for mates, mate choice, or success in fertilization. In primates, this selective pressure often leads to the development of exaggerated traits which play a role in sexual competition and successful reproduction. In order to gain insight into the mechanisms driving the development of sexually selected traits, we used an unbiased genome-wide approach across 21 primate species to correlate individual rates of protein evolution to relative testes size and sexual dimorphism in body size, 2 anatomical hallmarks of sexual selection in mammals. Among species with presumed high levels of sperm competition, we detected strong conservation of testes-specific proteins responsible for spermatogenesis and ciliary form and function. In contrast, we identified accelerated evolution of female reproductive proteins expressed in the vagina, cervix, and fallopian tubes in these same species. Additionally, we found accelerated protein evolution in lymphoid tissue, indicating that adaptive immune functions may also be influenced by sexual selection. This study demonstrates the distinct complexity of sexual selection in primates revealing contrasting patterns of protein evolution between male and female reproductive tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bri L Ports
- Department of Biological Sciences, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
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8
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Phan BN, Ray MH, Xue X, Fu C, Fenster RJ, Kohut SJ, Bergman J, Haber SN, McCullough KM, Fish MK, Glausier JR, Su Q, Tipton AE, Lewis DA, Freyberg Z, Tseng GC, Russek SJ, Alekseyev Y, Ressler KJ, Seney ML, Pfenning AR, Logan RW. Single nuclei transcriptomics in human and non-human primate striatum in opioid use disorder. Nat Commun 2024; 15:878. [PMID: 38296993 PMCID: PMC10831093 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45165-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2023] [Accepted: 01/12/2024] [Indexed: 02/02/2024] Open
Abstract
In brain, the striatum is a heterogenous region involved in reward and goal-directed behaviors. Striatal dysfunction is linked to psychiatric disorders, including opioid use disorder (OUD). Striatal subregions are divided based on neuroanatomy, each with unique roles in OUD. In OUD, the dorsal striatum is involved in altered reward processing, formation of habits, and development of negative affect during withdrawal. Using single nuclei RNA-sequencing, we identified both canonical (e.g., dopamine receptor subtype) and less abundant cell populations (e.g., interneurons) in human dorsal striatum. Pathways related to neurodegeneration, interferon response, and DNA damage were significantly enriched in striatal neurons of individuals with OUD. DNA damage markers were also elevated in striatal neurons of opioid-exposed rhesus macaques. Sex-specific molecular differences in glial cell subtypes associated with chronic stress were found in OUD, particularly female individuals. Together, we describe different cell types in human dorsal striatum and identify cell type-specific alterations in OUD.
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Affiliation(s)
- BaDoi N Phan
- Computational Biology Department, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA
- Medical Scientist Training Program, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA
| | - Madelyn H Ray
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Biophysics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 02118, USA
- Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 02118, USA
| | - Xiangning Xue
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA
| | - Chen Fu
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
| | - Robert J Fenster
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Division of Depression and Anxiety, McLean Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA, 02478, USA
| | - Stephen J Kohut
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Behavioral Biology Program, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, 02478, USA
| | - Jack Bergman
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Behavioral Biology Program, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, 02478, USA
| | - Suzanne N Haber
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, University of Rochester, School of Medicine, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA
| | - Kenneth M McCullough
- Basic Neuroscience Division, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, 02478, USA
| | - Madeline K Fish
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02118, USA
- Graduate Program for Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02118, USA
| | - Jill R Glausier
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, 15219, USA
| | - Qiao Su
- Computational Biology Department, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA
| | - Allison E Tipton
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02118, USA
- Graduate Program for Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02118, USA
| | - David A Lewis
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, 15219, USA
| | - Zachary Freyberg
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, 15219, USA
- Department of Cell Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, 15219, USA
| | - George C Tseng
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA
| | - Shelley J Russek
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Biophysics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 02118, USA
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02118, USA
- Graduate Program for Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02118, USA
| | - Yuriy Alekseyev
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 02118, USA
| | - Kerry J Ressler
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Division of Depression and Anxiety, McLean Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA, 02478, USA
| | - Marianne L Seney
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, 15219, USA
| | - Andreas R Pfenning
- Computational Biology Department, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA.
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA.
| | - Ryan W Logan
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Biophysics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 02118, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA.
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA.
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9
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Tong C. Convergent genomics and Arctic adaptation of ruminants. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20232448. [PMID: 38166424 PMCID: PMC10762444 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 01/04/2024] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Chao Tong
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
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10
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Wang H, Zhao L, Yang L, Ge M, Yang X, Gao Z, Cun Y, Xiao F, Kong Q. Scrutiny of genome-wide somatic mutation profiles in centenarians identifies the key genomic regions for human longevity. Aging Cell 2024; 23:e13916. [PMID: 37400997 PMCID: PMC10776117 DOI: 10.1111/acel.13916] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2022] [Revised: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 06/14/2023] [Indexed: 07/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Somatic mutations accumulate with age and are associated closely with human health, their characterization in longevity cohorts remains largely unknown. Here, by analyzing whole genome somatic mutation profiles in 73 centenarians and 51 younger controls in China, we found that centenarian genomes are characterized by a markedly skewed distribution of somatic mutations, with many genomic regions being specifically conserved but displaying a high function potential. This, together with the observed more efficient DNA repair ability in the long-lived individuals, supports the existence of key genomic regions for human survival during aging, with their integrity being of essential to human longevity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hao‐Tian Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Research of Yunnan Province, Kunming Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Study, KIZ/CUHK Joint Laboratory of Bioresources and Molecular Research in Common DiseasesKunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of SciencesKunmingChina
| | - Long Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Research of Yunnan Province, Kunming Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Study, KIZ/CUHK Joint Laboratory of Bioresources and Molecular Research in Common DiseasesKunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of SciencesKunmingChina
- Kunming College of Life ScienceUniversity of Chinese Academy of SciencesKunmingChina
| | - Li‐Qin Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Research of Yunnan Province, Kunming Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Study, KIZ/CUHK Joint Laboratory of Bioresources and Molecular Research in Common DiseasesKunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of SciencesKunmingChina
| | - Ming‐Xia Ge
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Research of Yunnan Province, Kunming Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Study, KIZ/CUHK Joint Laboratory of Bioresources and Molecular Research in Common DiseasesKunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of SciencesKunmingChina
- Kunming College of Life ScienceUniversity of Chinese Academy of SciencesKunmingChina
| | - Xing‐Li Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Research of Yunnan Province, Kunming Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Study, KIZ/CUHK Joint Laboratory of Bioresources and Molecular Research in Common DiseasesKunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of SciencesKunmingChina
- Kunming College of Life ScienceUniversity of Chinese Academy of SciencesKunmingChina
| | - Zong‐Liang Gao
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Research of Yunnan Province, Kunming Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Study, KIZ/CUHK Joint Laboratory of Bioresources and Molecular Research in Common DiseasesKunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of SciencesKunmingChina
- Kunming College of Life ScienceUniversity of Chinese Academy of SciencesKunmingChina
| | - Yu‐Peng Cun
- Pediatric Research Institute/Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders/National Clinical Research Center for Child Health and DisordersChildren's Hospital of Chongqing Medical UniversityChongqingChina
| | - Fu‐Hui Xiao
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Research of Yunnan Province, Kunming Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Study, KIZ/CUHK Joint Laboratory of Bioresources and Molecular Research in Common DiseasesKunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of SciencesKunmingChina
| | - Qing‐Peng Kong
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Research of Yunnan Province, Kunming Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Study, KIZ/CUHK Joint Laboratory of Bioresources and Molecular Research in Common DiseasesKunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of SciencesKunmingChina
- CAS Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and GeneticsChinese Academy of SciencesKunmingChina
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11
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Redlich R, Kowalczyk A, Tene M, Sestili HH, Foley K, Saputra E, Clark N, Chikina M, Meyer WK, Pfenning A. RERconverge Expansion: Using Relative Evolutionary Rates to Study Complex Categorical Trait Evolution. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.12.06.570425. [PMID: 38106136 PMCID: PMC10723433 DOI: 10.1101/2023.12.06.570425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
Comparative genomics approaches seek to associate evolutionary genetic changes with the evolution of phenotypes across a phylogeny. Many of these methods, including our evolutionary rates based method, RERconverge, lack the capability of analyzing non-ordinal, multicategorical traits. To address this limitation, we introduce an expansion to RERconverge that associates shifts in evolutionary rates with the convergent evolution of multi-categorical traits. The categorical RERconverge expansion includes methods for performing categorical ancestral state reconstruction, statistical tests for associating relative evolutionary rates with categorical variables, and a new method for performing phylogenetic permulations on multi-categorical traits. In addition to demonstrating our new method on a three-category diet phenotype, we compare its performance to naive pairwise binary RERconverge analyses and two existing methods for comparative genomic analyses of categorical traits: phylogenetic simulations and a phylogenetic signal based method. We also present a diagnostic analysis of the new permulations approach demonstrating how the method scales with the number of species and the number of categories included in the analysis. Our results show that our new categorical method outperforms phylogenetic simulations at identifying genes and enriched pathways significantly associated with the diet phenotype and that the new ancestral reconstruction drives an improvement in our ability to capture diet-related enriched pathways. Our categorical permulations were able to account for non-uniform null distributions and correct for non-independence in gene rank during pathway enrichment analysis. The categorical expansion to RERconverge will provide a strong foundation for applying the comparative method to categorical traits on larger data sets with more species and more complex trait evolution.
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12
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He Z, He W, Hu C, Liao J, Deng W, Sun H, Huang Q, Chen W, Zhang L, Liu M, Dong J. Cross-species comparison illuminates the importance of iron homeostasis for splenic anti-immunosenescence. Aging Cell 2023; 22:e13982. [PMID: 37681451 PMCID: PMC10652311 DOI: 10.1111/acel.13982] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2023] [Revised: 08/21/2023] [Accepted: 08/23/2023] [Indexed: 09/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Although immunosenescence may result in increased morbidity and mortality, many mammals have evolved effective immune coping strategies to extend their lifespans. Thus, the immune systems of long-lived mammals present unique models to study healthy longevity. To identify the molecular clues of anti-immunosenescence, we first built high-quality reference genome for a long-lived myotis bat, and then compared three long-lived mammals (i.e., bat, naked mole rat, and human) versus the short-lived mammal, mouse, in splenic immune cells at single-cell resolution. A close relationship between B:T cell ratio and immunosenescence was detected, as B:T cell ratio was much higher in mouse than long-lived mammals and significantly increased during aging. Importantly, we identified several iron-related genes that could resist immunosenescence changes, especially the iron chaperon, PCBP1, which was upregulated in long-lived mammals but dramatically downregulated during aging in all splenic immune cell types. Supportively, immune cells of mouse spleens contained more free iron than those of bat spleens, suggesting higher level of ROS-induced damage in mouse. PCBP1 downregulation during aging was also detected in hepatic but not pulmonary immune cells, which is consistent with the crucial roles of spleen and liver in organismal iron recycling. Furthermore, PCBP1 perturbation in immune cell lines would result in cellular iron dyshomeostasis and senescence. Finally, we identified two transcription factors that could regulate PCBP1 during aging. Together, our findings highlight the importance of iron homeostasis in splenic anti-immunosenescence, and provide unique insight for improving human healthspan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ziqing He
- GMU‐GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong‐Hong Kong‐Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National LaboratoryGuangzhou Medical UniversityGuangzhouChina
- Faculty of Health SciencesUniversity of MacauMacauChina
- Bioland Laboratory (Guangzhou Regenerative Medicine and Health Guangdong Laboratory)GuangzhouChina
| | - Weiya He
- GMU‐GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong‐Hong Kong‐Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National LaboratoryGuangzhou Medical UniversityGuangzhouChina
- Faculty of Health SciencesUniversity of MacauMacauChina
- Bioland Laboratory (Guangzhou Regenerative Medicine and Health Guangdong Laboratory)GuangzhouChina
| | - Chuanxia Hu
- GMU‐GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong‐Hong Kong‐Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National LaboratoryGuangzhou Medical UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Jiayu Liao
- GMU‐GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong‐Hong Kong‐Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National LaboratoryGuangzhou Medical UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Wenjun Deng
- GMU‐GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong‐Hong Kong‐Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National LaboratoryGuangzhou Medical UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Haijian Sun
- GMU‐GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong‐Hong Kong‐Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National LaboratoryGuangzhou Medical UniversityGuangzhouChina
- Faculty of Health SciencesUniversity of MacauMacauChina
- Bioland Laboratory (Guangzhou Regenerative Medicine and Health Guangdong Laboratory)GuangzhouChina
| | - Qingpei Huang
- GMU‐GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong‐Hong Kong‐Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National LaboratoryGuangzhou Medical UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Weilue Chen
- GMU‐GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong‐Hong Kong‐Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National LaboratoryGuangzhou Medical UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Libiao Zhang
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Conservation and Resource Utilization, Guangdong Public Laboratory of Wild Animal Conservation and UtilizationInstitute of Zoology, Guangdong Academy of SciencesGuangzhouChina
| | - Meiling Liu
- GMU‐GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong‐Hong Kong‐Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National LaboratoryGuangzhou Medical UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Ji Dong
- GMU‐GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong‐Hong Kong‐Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National LaboratoryGuangzhou Medical UniversityGuangzhouChina
- Bioland Laboratory (Guangzhou Regenerative Medicine and Health Guangdong Laboratory)GuangzhouChina
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13
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Li S, Vazquez JM, Sudmant PH. The evolution of aging and lifespan. Trends Genet 2023; 39:830-843. [PMID: 37714733 PMCID: PMC11147682 DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2023.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2023] [Revised: 08/18/2023] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 09/17/2023]
Abstract
Aging is a nearly inescapable trait among organisms yet lifespan varies tremendously across different species and spans several orders of magnitude in vertebrates alone. This vast phenotypic diversity is driven by distinct evolutionary trajectories and tradeoffs that are reflected in patterns of diversification and constraint in organismal genomes. Age-specific impacts of selection also shape allele frequencies in populations, thus impacting disease susceptibility and environment-specific mortality risk. Further, the mutational processes that spawn this genetic diversity in both germline and somatic cells are strongly influenced by age and life history. We discuss recent advances in our understanding of the evolution of aging and lifespan at organismal, population, and cellular scales, and highlight outstanding questions that remain unanswered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stacy Li
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA; Center for Computational Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA. USA
| | - Juan Manuel Vazquez
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Peter H Sudmant
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA; Center for Computational Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA. USA.
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14
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Huang Z, Jiang C, Gu J, Uvizl M, Power S, Douglas D, Kacprzyk J. Duplications of Human Longevity-Associated Genes Across Placental Mammals. Genome Biol Evol 2023; 15:evad186. [PMID: 37831410 PMCID: PMC10588791 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evad186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Revised: 07/31/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Natural selection has shaped a wide range of lifespans across mammals, with a few long-lived species showing negligible signs of ageing. Approaches used to elucidate the genetic mechanisms underlying mammalian longevity usually involve phylogenetic selection tests on candidate genes, detections of convergent amino acid changes in long-lived lineages, analyses of differential gene expression between age cohorts or species, and measurements of age-related epigenetic changes. However, the link between gene duplication and evolution of mammalian longevity has not been widely investigated. Here, we explored the association between gene duplication and mammalian lifespan by analyzing 287 human longevity-associated genes across 37 placental mammals. We estimated that the expansion rate of these genes is eight times higher than their contraction rate across these 37 species. Using phylogenetic approaches, we identified 43 genes whose duplication levels are significantly correlated with longevity quotients (False Discovery Rate (FDR) < 0.05). In particular, the strong correlation observed for four genes (CREBBP, PIK3R1, HELLS, FOXM1) appears to be driven mainly by their high duplication levels in two ageing extremists, the naked mole rat (Heterocephalus glaber) and the greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis). Further sequence and expression analyses suggest that the gene PIK3R1 may have undergone a convergent duplication event, whereby the similar region of its coding sequence was independently duplicated multiple times in both of these long-lived species. Collectively, this study identified several candidate genes whose duplications may underlie the extreme longevity in mammals, and highlighted the potential role of gene duplication in the evolution of mammalian long lifespans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zixia Huang
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Chongyi Jiang
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - Jiayun Gu
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Marek Uvizl
- Department of Zoology, National Museum, Prague, Czech Republic
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Sarahjane Power
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Declan Douglas
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Joanna Kacprzyk
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
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15
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Gonçalves C, Harrison MC, Steenwyk JL, Opulente DA, LaBella AL, Wolters JF, Zhou X, Shen XX, Groenewald M, Hittinger CT, Rokas A. Diverse signatures of convergent evolution in cacti-associated yeasts. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.09.14.557833. [PMID: 37745407 PMCID: PMC10515907 DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.14.557833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/26/2023]
Abstract
Many distantly related organisms have convergently evolved traits and lifestyles that enable them to live in similar ecological environments. However, the extent of phenotypic convergence evolving through the same or distinct genetic trajectories remains an open question. Here, we leverage a comprehensive dataset of genomic and phenotypic data from 1,049 yeast species in the subphylum Saccharomycotina (Kingdom Fungi, Phylum Ascomycota) to explore signatures of convergent evolution in cactophilic yeasts, ecological specialists associated with cacti. We inferred that the ecological association of yeasts with cacti arose independently ~17 times. Using machine-learning, we further found that cactophily can be predicted with 76% accuracy from functional genomic and phenotypic data. The most informative feature for predicting cactophily was thermotolerance, which is likely associated with duplication and altered evolutionary rates of genes impacting the cell envelope in several cactophilic lineages. We also identified horizontal gene transfer and duplication events of plant cell wall-degrading enzymes in distantly related cactophilic clades, suggesting that putatively adaptive traits evolved through disparate molecular mechanisms. Remarkably, multiple cactophilic lineages and their close relatives are emerging human opportunistic pathogens, suggesting that the cactophilic lifestyle-and perhaps more generally lifestyles favoring thermotolerance-may preadapt yeasts to cause human disease. This work underscores the potential of a multifaceted approach involving high throughput genomic and phenotypic data to shed light onto ecological adaptation and highlights how convergent evolution to wild environments could facilitate the transition to human pathogenicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carla Gonçalves
- Vanderbilt University, Department of Biological Sciences, VU Station B #35-1634, Nashville, TN 37235, United States of America
- Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA
- Present address: Associate Laboratory i4HB—Institute for Health and Bioeconomy and UCIBIO—Applied Molecular Biosciences Unit, Department of Life Sciences, NOVA School of Science and Technology, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal
- Present address: UCIBIO-i4HB, Departamento de Ciências da Vida, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal
| | - Marie-Claire Harrison
- Vanderbilt University, Department of Biological Sciences, VU Station B #35-1634, Nashville, TN 37235, United States of America
- Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA
| | - Jacob L. Steenwyk
- Vanderbilt University, Department of Biological Sciences, VU Station B #35-1634, Nashville, TN 37235, United States of America
- Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA
- Howards Hughes Medical Institute and the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Dana A. Opulente
- Laboratory of Genetics, DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Center for Genomic Science Innovation, J. F. Crow Institute for the Study of Evolution, Wisconsin Energy Institu te, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53726, USA
- Biology Department, Villanova University, Villanova, PA 19085, USA
| | - Abigail L. LaBella
- Vanderbilt University, Department of Biological Sciences, VU Station B #35-1634, Nashville, TN 37235, United States of America
- Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte NC 28223
| | - John F. Wolters
- Laboratory of Genetics, DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Center for Genomic Science Innovation, J. F. Crow Institute for the Study of Evolution, Wisconsin Energy Institu te, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53726, USA
| | - Xiaofan Zhou
- Vanderbilt University, Department of Biological Sciences, VU Station B #35-1634, Nashville, TN 37235, United States of America
- Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA
- Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Microbial Signals and Disease Control, Integrative Microbiology Research Center, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
| | - Xing-Xing Shen
- Vanderbilt University, Department of Biological Sciences, VU Station B #35-1634, Nashville, TN 37235, United States of America
- Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA
- College of Agriculture and Biotechnology and Centre for Evolutionary & Organismal Biology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | | | - Chris Todd Hittinger
- Laboratory of Genetics, DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Center for Genomic Science Innovation, J. F. Crow Institute for the Study of Evolution, Wisconsin Energy Institu te, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53726, USA
| | - Antonis Rokas
- Vanderbilt University, Department of Biological Sciences, VU Station B #35-1634, Nashville, TN 37235, United States of America
- Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA
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16
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Yan H, Hu Z, Thomas GWC, Edwards SV, Sackton TB, Liu JS. PhyloAcc-GT: A Bayesian Method for Inferring Patterns of Substitution Rate Shifts on Targeted Lineages Accounting for Gene Tree Discordance. Mol Biol Evol 2023; 40:msad195. [PMID: 37665177 PMCID: PMC10540510 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msad195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2022] [Revised: 08/15/2023] [Accepted: 09/01/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023] Open
Abstract
An important goal of evolutionary genomics is to identify genomic regions whose substitution rates differ among lineages. For example, genomic regions experiencing accelerated molecular evolution in some lineages may provide insight into links between genotype and phenotype. Several comparative genomics methods have been developed to identify genomic accelerations between species, including a Bayesian method called PhyloAcc, which models shifts in substitution rate in multiple target lineages on a phylogeny. However, few methods consider the possibility of discordance between the trees of individual loci and the species tree due to incomplete lineage sorting, which might cause false positives. Here, we present PhyloAcc-GT, which extends PhyloAcc by modeling gene tree heterogeneity. Given a species tree, we adopt the multispecies coalescent model as the prior distribution of gene trees, use Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) for inference, and design novel MCMC moves to sample gene trees efficiently. Through extensive simulations, we show that PhyloAcc-GT outperforms PhyloAcc and other methods in identifying target lineage-specific accelerations and detecting complex patterns of rate shifts, and is robust to specification of population size parameters. PhyloAcc-GT is usually more conservative than PhyloAcc in calling convergent rate shifts because it identifies more accelerations on ancestral than on terminal branches. We apply PhyloAcc-GT to two examples of convergent evolution: flightlessness in ratites and marine mammal adaptations, and show that PhyloAcc-GT is a robust tool to identify shifts in substitution rate associated with specific target lineages while accounting for incomplete lineage sorting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Han Yan
- Department of Statistics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Zhirui Hu
- Department of Statistics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Gladstone Institute of Data Science and Biotechnology, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | | | - Scott V Edwards
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - Jun S Liu
- Department of Statistics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
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17
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Chen HI, Turakhia Y, Bejerano G, Kingsley DM. Whole-genome Comparisons Identify Repeated Regulatory Changes Underlying Convergent Appendage Evolution in Diverse Fish Lineages. Mol Biol Evol 2023; 40:msad188. [PMID: 37739926 PMCID: PMC10516590 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msad188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Fins are major functional appendages of fish that have been repeatedly modified in different lineages. To search for genomic changes underlying natural fin diversity, we compared the genomes of 36 percomorph fish species that span over 100 million years of evolution and either have complete or reduced pelvic and caudal fins. We identify 1,614 genomic regions that are well-conserved in fin-complete species but missing from multiple fin-reduced lineages. Recurrent deletions of conserved sequences in wild fin-reduced species are enriched for functions related to appendage development, suggesting that convergent fin reduction at the organismal level is associated with repeated genomic deletions near fin-appendage development genes. We used sequencing and functional enhancer assays to confirm that PelA, a Pitx1 enhancer previously linked to recurrent pelvic loss in sticklebacks, has also been independently deleted and may have contributed to the fin morphology in distantly related pelvic-reduced species. We also identify a novel enhancer that is conserved in the majority of percomorphs, drives caudal fin expression in transgenic stickleback, is missing in tetraodontiform, syngnathid, and synbranchid species with caudal fin reduction, and alters caudal fin development when targeted by genome editing. Our study illustrates a broadly applicable strategy for mapping phenotypes to genotypes across a tree of vertebrate species and highlights notable new examples of regulatory genomic hotspots that have been used to evolve recurrent phenotypes across 100 million years of fish evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heidi I Chen
- Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Yatish Turakhia
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Gill Bejerano
- Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Department of Biomedical Data Science, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Department of Computer Science, Stanford University School of Engineering, Stanford, CA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - David M Kingsley
- Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
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18
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Kirsch-Volders M, Fenech M. Towards prevention of aneuploidy-associated cellular senescence and aging: more questions than answers? MUTATION RESEARCH. REVIEWS IN MUTATION RESEARCH 2023; 792:108474. [PMID: 37866738 DOI: 10.1016/j.mrrev.2023.108474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2023] [Revised: 10/10/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 10/24/2023]
Abstract
The aim of this review is to discuss how aneuploidy contributes to the aging process, and to identify plausible strategies for its prevention. After an overview of mechanisms leading to aneuploidy and the major features of cellular senescence, we discuss the link between (i) aneuploidy and cellular senescence; (ii) aneuploidy and aging; and (iii) cellular senescence and aging. We also consider (i) interactions between aneuploidy, micronuclei, cellular senescence and aging, (ii) the potential of nutritional treatments to prevent aneuploidy-associated senescence and aging, and (iii) knowledge and technological gaps. Evidence for a causal link between aneuploidy, senescence and aging is emerging. In vitro, aneuploidy accompanies the entry into cellular senescence and can itself induce senescence. How aneuploidy contributes in vivo to cellular senescence is less clear. Several routes depending on aneuploidy and/or senescence converge towards chronic inflammation, the major driver of unhealthy aging. Aneuploidy can induce the pro-inflammatory Senescence Associated Secretory Phenotype (SASP), either directly or as a result of micronucleus (MN) induction leading to leakage of DNA into the cytoplasm and triggering of the cGAS-STING pathway of innate immune response. A major difficulty in understanding the impact of aneuploidy on senescence and aging in vivo, results from the heterogeneity of cellular senescence in different tissues at the cytological and molecular level. Due to this complexity, there is at the present time no biomarker or biomarker combination characteristic for all types of senescent cells. In conclusion, a deeper understanding of the critical role aneuploidy plays in cellular senescence and aging is essential to devise practical strategies to protect human populations from aneuploidy-associated pathologies. We discuss emerging evidence, based on in vitro and in vivo studies, that adequate amounts of specific micronutrients are essential for prevention of aneuploidy in humans and that precise nutritional intervention may be essential to help avoid the scourge of aneuploidy-driven diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Micheline Kirsch-Volders
- Laboratory for Cell Genetics, Department Biology, Faculty of Sciences and Bio-engineering Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
| | - Michael Fenech
- Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, SA 5000, Australia; Genome Health Foundation, North Brighton, SA 5048, Australia.
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19
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Kaplow IM, Lawler AJ, Schäffer DE, Srinivasan C, Sestili HH, Wirthlin ME, Phan BN, Prasad K, Brown AR, Zhang X, Foley K, Genereux DP, Karlsson EK, Lindblad-Toh K, Meyer WK, Pfenning AR. Relating enhancer genetic variation across mammals to complex phenotypes using machine learning. Science 2023; 380:eabm7993. [PMID: 37104615 PMCID: PMC10322212 DOI: 10.1126/science.abm7993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2021] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023]
Abstract
Protein-coding differences between species often fail to explain phenotypic diversity, suggesting the involvement of genomic elements that regulate gene expression such as enhancers. Identifying associations between enhancers and phenotypes is challenging because enhancer activity can be tissue-dependent and functionally conserved despite low sequence conservation. We developed the Tissue-Aware Conservation Inference Toolkit (TACIT) to associate candidate enhancers with species' phenotypes using predictions from machine learning models trained on specific tissues. Applying TACIT to associate motor cortex and parvalbumin-positive interneuron enhancers with neurological phenotypes revealed dozens of enhancer-phenotype associations, including brain size-associated enhancers that interact with genes implicated in microcephaly or macrocephaly. TACIT provides a foundation for identifying enhancers associated with the evolution of any convergently evolved phenotype in any large group of species with aligned genomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene M. Kaplow
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Alyssa J. Lawler
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Daniel E. Schäffer
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Chaitanya Srinivasan
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Heather H. Sestili
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Morgan E. Wirthlin
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - BaDoi N. Phan
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Medical Scientist Training Program, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Kavya Prasad
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Ashley R. Brown
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Xiaomeng Zhang
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Kathleen Foley
- Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA
| | - Diane P. Genereux
- Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Program in Bioinformatics and Integrative Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | | | - Elinor K. Karlsson
- Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Program in Bioinformatics and Integrative Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Kerstin Lindblad-Toh
- Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Wynn K. Meyer
- Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA
| | - Andreas R. Pfenning
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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20
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Zhang X, Kuang T, Dong W, Qian Z, Zhang H, Landis JB, Feng T, Li L, Sun Y, Huang J, Deng T, Wang H, Sun H. Genomic convergence underlying high-altitude adaptation in alpine plants. JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE PLANT BIOLOGY 2023. [PMID: 36960823 DOI: 10.1111/jipb.13485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2022] [Accepted: 03/21/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Evolutionary convergence is one of the most striking examples of adaptation driven by natural selection. However, genomic evidence for convergent adaptation to extreme environments remains scarce. Here, we assembled reference genomes of two alpine plants, Saussurea obvallata (Asteraceae) and Rheum alexandrae (Polygonaceae), with 37,938 and 61,463 annotated protein-coding genes. By integrating an additional five alpine genomes, we elucidated genomic convergence underlying high-altitude adaptation in alpine plants. Our results detected convergent contractions of disease-resistance genes in alpine genomes, which might be an energy-saving strategy for surviving in hostile environments with only a few pathogens present. We identified signatures of positive selection on a set of genes involved in reproduction and respiration (e.g., MMD1, NBS1, and HPR), and revealed signatures of molecular convergence on genes involved in self-incompatibility, cell wall modification, DNA repair and stress resistance, which may underlie adaptation to extreme cold, high ultraviolet radiation and hypoxia environments. Incorporating transcriptomic data, we further demonstrated that genes associated with cuticular wax and flavonoid biosynthetic pathways exhibit higher expression levels in leafy bracts, shedding light on the genetic mechanisms of the adaptive "greenhouse" morphology. Our integrative data provide novel insights into convergent evolution at a high-taxonomic level, aiding in a deep understanding of genetic adaptation to complex environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xu Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Wuhan, 430074, China
- Center of Conservation Biology, Core Botanical Gardens, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China
| | - Tianhui Kuang
- Yunnan International Joint Laboratory for Biodiversity of Central Asia, Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, China
| | - Wenlin Dong
- CAS Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Wuhan, 430074, China
- Center of Conservation Biology, Core Botanical Gardens, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Zhihao Qian
- CAS Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Wuhan, 430074, China
- Center of Conservation Biology, Core Botanical Gardens, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Huajie Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Wuhan, 430074, China
- Center of Conservation Biology, Core Botanical Gardens, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China
| | - Jacob B Landis
- School of Integrative Plant Science, Section of Plant Biology and the L. H. Bailey Hortorium, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 14850, USA
- BTI Computational Biology Center, Boyce Thompson Institute, Ithaca, New York, 14853, USA
| | - Tao Feng
- CAS Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Wuhan, 430074, China
- Center of Conservation Biology, Core Botanical Gardens, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China
| | - Lijuan Li
- CAS Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Wuhan, 430074, China
- Center of Conservation Biology, Core Botanical Gardens, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Yanxia Sun
- CAS Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Wuhan, 430074, China
- Center of Conservation Biology, Core Botanical Gardens, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China
| | - Jinling Huang
- Yunnan International Joint Laboratory for Biodiversity of Central Asia, Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, China
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Adaptation and Improvement, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, China
- Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, 27858, USA
| | - Tao Deng
- Yunnan International Joint Laboratory for Biodiversity of Central Asia, Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, China
| | - Hengchang Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Wuhan, 430074, China
- Center of Conservation Biology, Core Botanical Gardens, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China
| | - Hang Sun
- Yunnan International Joint Laboratory for Biodiversity of Central Asia, Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, China
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21
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Chen HI, Turakhia Y, Bejerano G, Kingsley DM. Whole-genome comparisons identify repeated regulatory changes underlying convergent appendage evolution in diverse fish lineages. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.01.30.526059. [PMID: 36778215 PMCID: PMC9915506 DOI: 10.1101/2023.01.30.526059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Fins are major functional appendages of fish that have been repeatedly modified in different lineages. To search for genomic changes underlying natural fin diversity, we compared the genomes of 36 wild fish species that either have complete or reduced pelvic and caudal fins. We identify 1,614 genomic regions that are well-conserved in fin-complete species but missing from multiple fin-reduced lineages. Recurrent deletions of conserved sequences (CONDELs) in wild fin-reduced species are enriched for functions related to appendage development, suggesting that convergent fin reduction at the organismal level is associated with repeated genomic deletions near fin-appendage development genes. We used sequencing and functional enhancer assays to confirm that PelA , a Pitx1 enhancer previously linked to recurrent pelvic loss in sticklebacks, has also been independently deleted and may have contributed to the fin morphology in distantly related pelvic-reduced species. We also identify a novel enhancer that is conserved in the majority of percomorphs, drives caudal fin expression in transgenic stickleback, is missing in tetraodontiform, s yngnathid, and synbranchid species with caudal fin reduction, and which alters caudal fin development when targeted by genome editing. Our study illustrates a general strategy for mapping phenotypes to genotypes across a tree of vertebrate species, and highlights notable new examples of regulatory genomic hotspots that have been used to evolve recurrent phenotypes during 100 million years of fish evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heidi I. Chen
- Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA
| | - Yatish Turakhia
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA
| | - Gill Bejerano
- Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA
- Department of Biomedical Data Science, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA
- Department of Computer Science, Stanford University School of Engineering, CA
- Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA
| | - David M. Kingsley
- Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, CA
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22
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Genome Evolution and the Future of Phylogenomics of Non-Avian Reptiles. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:ani13030471. [PMID: 36766360 PMCID: PMC9913427 DOI: 10.3390/ani13030471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Revised: 01/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/15/2023] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Non-avian reptiles comprise a large proportion of amniote vertebrate diversity, with squamate reptiles-lizards and snakes-recently overtaking birds as the most species-rich tetrapod radiation. Despite displaying an extraordinary diversity of phenotypic and genomic traits, genomic resources in non-avian reptiles have accumulated more slowly than they have in mammals and birds, the remaining amniotes. Here we review the remarkable natural history of non-avian reptiles, with a focus on the physical traits, genomic characteristics, and sequence compositional patterns that comprise key axes of variation across amniotes. We argue that the high evolutionary diversity of non-avian reptiles can fuel a new generation of whole-genome phylogenomic analyses. A survey of phylogenetic investigations in non-avian reptiles shows that sequence capture-based approaches are the most commonly used, with studies of markers known as ultraconserved elements (UCEs) especially well represented. However, many other types of markers exist and are increasingly being mined from genome assemblies in silico, including some with greater information potential than UCEs for certain investigations. We discuss the importance of high-quality genomic resources and methods for bioinformatically extracting a range of marker sets from genome assemblies. Finally, we encourage herpetologists working in genomics, genetics, evolutionary biology, and other fields to work collectively towards building genomic resources for non-avian reptiles, especially squamates, that rival those already in place for mammals and birds. Overall, the development of this cross-amniote phylogenomic tree of life will contribute to illuminate interesting dimensions of biodiversity across non-avian reptiles and broader amniotes.
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23
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Treaster S, Deelen J, Daane JM, Murabito J, Karasik D, Harris MP. Convergent genomics of longevity in rockfishes highlights the genetics of human life span variation. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadd2743. [PMID: 36630509 PMCID: PMC9833670 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.add2743] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
Longevity is a defining, heritable trait that varies dramatically between species. To resolve the genetic regulation of this trait, we have mined genomic variation in rockfishes, which range in longevity from 11 to over 205 years. Multiple shifts in rockfish longevity have occurred independently and in a short evolutionary time frame, thus empowering convergence analyses. Our analyses reveal a common network of genes under convergent evolution, encompassing established aging regulators such as insulin signaling, yet also identify flavonoid (aryl-hydrocarbon) metabolism as a pathway modulating longevity. The selective pressures on these pathways indicate the ancestral state of rockfishes was long lived and that the changes in short-lived lineages are adaptive. These pathways were also used to explore genome-wide association studies of human longevity, identifying the aryl-hydrocarbon metabolism pathway to be significantly associated with human survival to the 99th percentile. This evolutionary intersection defines and cross-validates a previously unappreciated genetic architecture that associates with the evolution of longevity across vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Treaster
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Joris Deelen
- Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, Joseph-Stelzmann-Str. 9b, D-50931 Köln, Germany
- Molecular Epidemiology, Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
- Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD), University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Jacob M. Daane
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston TX, USA
| | - Joanne Murabito
- Section of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
- Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, MA, USA
| | - David Karasik
- Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Safed, Israel
- Marcus Institute for Aging Research, Hebrew Senior Life, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Matthew P. Harris
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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24
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Tong C, Avilés L, Rayor LS, Mikheyev AS, Linksvayer TA. Genomic signatures of recent convergent transitions to social life in spiders. Nat Commun 2022; 13:6967. [PMID: 36414623 PMCID: PMC9681848 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34446-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2021] [Accepted: 10/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The transition from solitary to social life is a major phenotypic innovation, but its genetic underpinnings are largely unknown. To identify genomic changes associated with this transition, we compare the genomes of 22 spider species representing eight recent and independent origins of sociality. Hundreds of genes tend to experience shifts in selection during the repeated transition to social life. These genes are associated with several key functions, such as neurogenesis, behavior, and metabolism, and include genes that previously have been implicated in animal social behavior and human behavioral disorders. In addition, social species have elevated genome-wide rates of molecular evolution associated with relaxed selection caused by reduced effective population size. Altogether, our study provides unprecedented insights into the genomic signatures of social evolution and the specific genetic changes that repeatedly underpin the evolution of sociality. Our study also highlights the heretofore unappreciated potential of transcriptomics using ethanol-preserved specimens for comparative genomics and phylotranscriptomics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chao Tong
- Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
- Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 79409, USA.
| | - Leticia Avilés
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Linda S Rayor
- Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA
| | - Alexander S Mikheyev
- Evolutionary Genomics Group, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, 0200, Australia
| | - Timothy A Linksvayer
- Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
- Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 79409, USA.
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25
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Zhao Q, Shao F, Li Y, Yi SV, Peng Z. Novel genome sequence of Chinese cavefish (Triplophysa rosa) reveals pervasive relaxation of natural selection in cavefish genomes. Mol Ecol 2022; 31:5831-5845. [PMID: 36125323 PMCID: PMC9828065 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16700] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
All cavefishes, living exclusively in caves across the globe, exhibit similar phenotypic traits, including the characteristic loss of eyes. To understand whether such phenotypic convergence shares similar genomic bases, here we investigated genome-wide evolutionary signatures of cavefish phenotypes by comparing whole-genome sequences of three pairs of cavefishes and their surface fish relatives. Notably, we newly sequenced and generated a whole-genome assembly of the Chinese cavefish Triplophysa rosa. Our comparative analyses revealed several shared features of cavefish genome evolution. Cavefishes had lower mutation rates than their surface fish relatives. In contrast, the ratio of nonsynonymous to synonymous substitutions (ω) was significantly elevated in cavefishes compared to in surface fishes, consistent with the relaxation of purifying selection. In addition, cavefish genomes had an increased mutational load, including mutations that alter protein hydrophobicity profiles, which were considered harmful. Interestingly, however, we found no overlap in positively selected genes among different cavefish lineages, indicating that the phenotypic convergence in cavefishes was not caused by positive selection of the same sets of genes. Analyses of previously identified candidate genes associated with cave phenotypes supported this conclusion. Genes belonging to the lipid metabolism functional ontology were under relaxed purifying selection in all cavefish genomes, which may be associated with the nutrient-poor habitat of cavefishes. Our work reveals previously uncharacterized patterns of cavefish genome evolution and provides comparative insights into the evolution of cave-associated phenotypic traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qingyuan Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education)Southwest University School of Life SciencesChongqingChina,Department of Laboratory Animal Science, College of Basic Medical SciencesArmy Medical University (Third Military Medical University)ChongqingChina
| | - Feng Shao
- Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education)Southwest University School of Life SciencesChongqingChina
| | - Yanping Li
- Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education)Southwest University School of Life SciencesChongqingChina,Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province for Fish Conservation and Utilization in the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze RiverNeijiang Normal University College of Life SciencesNeijiangChina
| | - Soojin V. Yi
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine BiologyUniversity of CaliforniaSanta BarbaraCaliforniaUSA
| | - Zuogang Peng
- Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education)Southwest University School of Life SciencesChongqingChina,Academy of Plateau Science and SustainabilityQinghai Normal UniversityXiningChina
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26
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Nair NU, Cheng K, Naddaf L, Sharon E, Pal LR, Rajagopal PS, Unterman I, Aldape K, Hannenhalli S, Day CP, Tabach Y, Ruppin E. Cross-species identification of cancer resistance-associated genes that may mediate human cancer risk. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabj7176. [PMID: 35921407 PMCID: PMC9348801 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abj7176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Cancer is a predominant disease across animals. We applied a comparative genomics approach to systematically characterize genes whose conservation levels correlate positively (PC) or negatively (NC) with cancer resistance estimates across 193 vertebrates. Pathway analysis reveals that NC genes are enriched for metabolic functions and PC genes in cell cycle regulation, DNA repair, and immune response, pointing to their corresponding roles in mediating cancer risk. We find that PC genes are less tolerant to loss-of-function (LoF) mutations, are enriched in cancer driver genes, and are associated with germline mutations that increase human cancer risk. Their relevance to cancer risk is further supported via the analysis of mouse functional genomics and cancer mortality of zoo mammals' data. In sum, our study describes a cross-species genomic analysis pointing to candidate genes that may mediate human cancer risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nishanth Ulhas Nair
- Cancer Data Science Laboratory (CDSL), National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, USA
- Corresponding author. (N.U.N.); (K.C.); (Y.T.); (E.R.)
| | - Kuoyuan Cheng
- Cancer Data Science Laboratory (CDSL), National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, USA
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
- Corresponding author. (N.U.N.); (K.C.); (Y.T.); (E.R.)
| | - Lamis Naddaf
- Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, Institute of Medical Research–Israel-Canada, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9112102, Israel
| | - Elad Sharon
- Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, Institute of Medical Research–Israel-Canada, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9112102, Israel
| | - Lipika R. Pal
- Cancer Data Science Laboratory (CDSL), National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Padma S. Rajagopal
- Cancer Data Science Laboratory (CDSL), National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Irene Unterman
- Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, Institute of Medical Research–Israel-Canada, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9112102, Israel
| | - Kenneth Aldape
- Laboratory of Pathology, National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Sridhar Hannenhalli
- Cancer Data Science Laboratory (CDSL), National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Chi-Ping Day
- Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Yuval Tabach
- Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, Institute of Medical Research–Israel-Canada, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9112102, Israel
- Corresponding author. (N.U.N.); (K.C.); (Y.T.); (E.R.)
| | - Eytan Ruppin
- Cancer Data Science Laboratory (CDSL), National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, USA
- Corresponding author. (N.U.N.); (K.C.); (Y.T.); (E.R.)
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27
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Caruso C, Ligotti ME, Accardi G, Aiello A, Duro G, Galimberti D, Candore G. How Important Are Genes to Achieve Longevity? Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:5635. [PMID: 35628444 PMCID: PMC9145989 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23105635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2022] [Revised: 05/13/2022] [Accepted: 05/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Several studies on the genetics of longevity have been reviewed in this paper. The results show that, despite efforts and new technologies, only two genes, APOE and FOXO3A, involved in the protection of cardiovascular diseases, have been shown to be associated with longevity in nearly all studies. This happens because the genetic determinants of longevity are dynamic and depend on the environmental history of a given population. In fact, population-specific genes are thought to play a greater role in the attainment of longevity than those shared between different populations. Hence, it is not surprising that GWAS replicated associations of common variants with longevity have been few, if any, as these studies pool together different populations. An alternative way might be the study of long-life families. This type of approach is proving to be an ideal resource for uncovering protective alleles and associated biological signatures for healthy aging phenotypes and exceptional longevity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Calogero Caruso
- Laboratorio di Immunopatologia e Immunosenescenza, Dipartimento di Biomedicina, Neuroscienze e Diagnostica Avanzata, Università di Palermo, 90133 Palermo, Italy; (M.E.L.); (G.A.); (A.A.); (G.C.)
| | - Mattia Emanuela Ligotti
- Laboratorio di Immunopatologia e Immunosenescenza, Dipartimento di Biomedicina, Neuroscienze e Diagnostica Avanzata, Università di Palermo, 90133 Palermo, Italy; (M.E.L.); (G.A.); (A.A.); (G.C.)
- Istituto per la Ricerca e l’Innovazione Biomedica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, 90146 Palermo, Italy;
| | - Giulia Accardi
- Laboratorio di Immunopatologia e Immunosenescenza, Dipartimento di Biomedicina, Neuroscienze e Diagnostica Avanzata, Università di Palermo, 90133 Palermo, Italy; (M.E.L.); (G.A.); (A.A.); (G.C.)
| | - Anna Aiello
- Laboratorio di Immunopatologia e Immunosenescenza, Dipartimento di Biomedicina, Neuroscienze e Diagnostica Avanzata, Università di Palermo, 90133 Palermo, Italy; (M.E.L.); (G.A.); (A.A.); (G.C.)
| | - Giovanni Duro
- Istituto per la Ricerca e l’Innovazione Biomedica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, 90146 Palermo, Italy;
| | | | - Giuseppina Candore
- Laboratorio di Immunopatologia e Immunosenescenza, Dipartimento di Biomedicina, Neuroscienze e Diagnostica Avanzata, Università di Palermo, 90133 Palermo, Italy; (M.E.L.); (G.A.); (A.A.); (G.C.)
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28
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Kaplow IM, Schäffer DE, Wirthlin ME, Lawler AJ, Brown AR, Kleyman M, Pfenning AR. Inferring mammalian tissue-specific regulatory conservation by predicting tissue-specific differences in open chromatin. BMC Genomics 2022; 23:291. [PMID: 35410163 PMCID: PMC8996547 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-022-08450-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2021] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Evolutionary conservation is an invaluable tool for inferring functional significance in the genome, including regions that are crucial across many species and those that have undergone convergent evolution. Computational methods to test for sequence conservation are dominated by algorithms that examine the ability of one or more nucleotides to align across large evolutionary distances. While these nucleotide alignment-based approaches have proven powerful for protein-coding genes and some non-coding elements, they fail to capture conservation of many enhancers, distal regulatory elements that control spatial and temporal patterns of gene expression. The function of enhancers is governed by a complex, often tissue- and cell type-specific code that links combinations of transcription factor binding sites and other regulation-related sequence patterns to regulatory activity. Thus, function of orthologous enhancer regions can be conserved across large evolutionary distances, even when nucleotide turnover is high. RESULTS We present a new machine learning-based approach for evaluating enhancer conservation that leverages the combinatorial sequence code of enhancer activity rather than relying on the alignment of individual nucleotides. We first train a convolutional neural network model that can predict tissue-specific open chromatin, a proxy for enhancer activity, across mammals. Next, we apply that model to distinguish instances where the genome sequence would predict conserved function versus a loss of regulatory activity in that tissue. We present criteria for systematically evaluating model performance for this task and use them to demonstrate that our models accurately predict tissue-specific conservation and divergence in open chromatin between primate and rodent species, vastly out-performing leading nucleotide alignment-based approaches. We then apply our models to predict open chromatin at orthologs of brain and liver open chromatin regions across hundreds of mammals and find that brain enhancers associated with neuron activity have a stronger tendency than the general population to have predicted lineage-specific open chromatin. CONCLUSION The framework presented here provides a mechanism to annotate tissue-specific regulatory function across hundreds of genomes and to study enhancer evolution using predicted regulatory differences rather than nucleotide-level conservation measurements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene M Kaplow
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
| | - Daniel E Schäffer
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Morgan E Wirthlin
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Alyssa J Lawler
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Ashley R Brown
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Michael Kleyman
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Andreas R Pfenning
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
- Department of Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
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29
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Tejada-Martinez D, Avelar RA, Lopes I, Zhang B, Novoa G, de Magalhães JP, Trizzino M. Positive Selection and Enhancer Evolution Shaped Lifespan and Body Mass in Great Apes. Mol Biol Evol 2022; 39:msab369. [PMID: 34971383 PMCID: PMC8837823 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Within primates, the great apes are outliers both in terms of body size and lifespan, since they include the largest and longest-lived species in the order. Yet, the molecular bases underlying such features are poorly understood. Here, we leveraged an integrated approach to investigate multiple sources of molecular variation across primates, focusing on over 10,000 genes, including approximately 1,500 previously associated with lifespan, and additional approximately 9,000 for which an association with longevity has never been suggested. We analyzed dN/dS rates, positive selection, gene expression (RNA-seq), and gene regulation (ChIP-seq). By analyzing the correlation between dN/dS, maximum lifespan, and body mass, we identified 276 genes whose rate of evolution positively correlates with maximum lifespan in primates. Further, we identified five genes, important for tumor suppression, adaptive immunity, metastasis, and inflammation, under positive selection exclusively in the great ape lineage. RNA-seq data, generated from the liver of six species representing all the primate lineages, revealed that 8% of approximately 1,500 genes previously associated with longevity are differentially expressed in apes relative to other primates. Importantly, by integrating RNA-seq with ChIP-seq for H3K27ac (which marks active enhancers), we show that the differentially expressed longevity genes are significantly more likely than expected to be located near a novel "ape-specific" enhancer. Moreover, these particular ape-specific enhancers are enriched for young transposable elements, and specifically SINE-Vntr-Alus. In summary, we demonstrate that multiple evolutionary forces have contributed to the evolution of lifespan and body size in primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Tejada-Martinez
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Integrative Genomics of Ageing Group, Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Roberto A Avelar
- Integrative Genomics of Ageing Group, Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Inês Lopes
- Integrative Genomics of Ageing Group, Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Bruce Zhang
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Guy Novoa
- Department of Structure of Macromolecules, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología—CSIC, Madrid, Spain
| | - João Pedro de Magalhães
- Integrative Genomics of Ageing Group, Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Marco Trizzino
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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30
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Harrison BR, Hoffman JM, Samuelson A, Raftery D, Promislow DEL. Modular Evolution of the Drosophila Metabolome. Mol Biol Evol 2022; 39:msab307. [PMID: 34662414 PMCID: PMC8760934 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Comparative phylogenetic studies offer a powerful approach to study the evolution of complex traits. Although much effort has been devoted to the evolution of the genome and to organismal phenotypes, until now relatively little work has been done on the evolution of the metabolome, despite the fact that it is composed of the basic structural and functional building blocks of all organisms. Here we explore variation in metabolite levels across 50 My of evolution in the genus Drosophila, employing a common garden design to measure the metabolome within and among 11 species of Drosophila. We find that both sex and age have dramatic and evolutionarily conserved effects on the metabolome. We also find substantial evidence that many metabolite pairs covary after phylogenetic correction, and that such metabolome coevolution is modular. Some of these modules are enriched for specific biochemical pathways and show different evolutionary trajectories, with some showing signs of stabilizing selection. Both observations suggest that functional relationships may ultimately cause such modularity. These coevolutionary patterns also differ between sexes and are affected by age. We explore the relevance of modular evolution to fitness by associating modules with lifespan variation measured in the same common garden. We find several modules associated with lifespan, particularly in the metabolome of older flies. Oxaloacetate levels in older females appear to coevolve with lifespan, and a lifespan-associated module in older females suggests that metabolic associations could underlie 50 My of lifespan evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin R Harrison
- Department of Lab Medicine & Pathology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Jessica M Hoffman
- Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Ariana Samuelson
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Daniel Raftery
- Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Daniel E L Promislow
- Department of Lab Medicine & Pathology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
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31
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Promislow DEL, Flatt T, Bonduriansky R. The Biology of Aging in Insects: From Drosophila to Other Insects and Back. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ENTOMOLOGY 2022; 67:83-103. [PMID: 34590891 PMCID: PMC8940561 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ento-061621-064341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
An enormous amount of work has been done on aging in Drosophila melanogaster, a classical genetic and molecular model system, but also in numerous other insects. However, these two extensive bodies of work remain poorly integrated to date. Studies in Drosophila often explore genetic, developmental, physiological, and nutrition-related aspects of aging in the lab, while studies in other insects often explore ecological, social, and somatic aspects of aging in both lab and natural populations. Alongside exciting genomic and molecular research advances in aging in Drosophila, many new studies have also been published on aging in various other insects, including studies on aging in natural populations of diverse species. However, no broad synthesis of these largely separate bodies of work has been attempted. In this review, we endeavor to synthesize these two semi-independent literatures to facilitate collaboration and foster the exchange of ideas and research tools. While lab studies of Drosophila have illuminated many fundamental aspects of senescence, the stunning diversity of aging patterns among insects, especially in the context of their rich ecology, remains vastlyunderstudied. Coupled with field studies and novel, more easily applicable molecular methods, this represents a major opportunity for deepening our understanding of the biology of aging in insects and beyond.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel E L Promislow
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA;
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA
| | - Thomas Flatt
- Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland;
| | - Russell Bonduriansky
- Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia;
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32
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Kowalczyk A, Chikina M, Clark N. Complementary evolution of coding and noncoding sequence underlies mammalian hairlessness. eLife 2022; 11:76911. [PMID: 36342464 PMCID: PMC9803358 DOI: 10.7554/elife.76911] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2022] [Accepted: 11/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Body hair is a defining mammalian characteristic, but several mammals, such as whales, naked mole-rats, and humans, have notably less hair. To find the genetic basis of reduced hair quantity, we used our evolutionary-rates-based method, RERconverge, to identify coding and noncoding sequences that evolve at significantly different rates in so-called hairless mammals compared to hairy mammals. Using RERconverge, we performed a genome-wide scan over 62 mammal species using 19,149 genes and 343,598 conserved noncoding regions. In addition to detecting known and potential novel hair-related genes, we also discovered hundreds of putative hair-related regulatory elements. Computational investigation revealed that genes and their associated noncoding regions show different evolutionary patterns and influence different aspects of hair growth and development. Many genes under accelerated evolution are associated with the structure of the hair shaft itself, while evolutionary rate shifts in noncoding regions also included the dermal papilla and matrix regions of the hair follicle that contribute to hair growth and cycling. Genes that were top ranked for coding sequence acceleration included known hair and skin genes KRT2, KRT35, PKP1, and PTPRM that surprisingly showed no signals of evolutionary rate shifts in nearby noncoding regions. Conversely, accelerated noncoding regions are most strongly enriched near regulatory hair-related genes and microRNAs, such as mir205, ELF3, and FOXC1, that themselves do not show rate shifts in their protein-coding sequences. Such dichotomy highlights the interplay between the evolution of protein sequence and regulatory sequence to contribute to the emergence of a convergent phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda Kowalczyk
- Carnegie Mellon-University of Pittsburgh PhD Program in Computational BiologyPittsburghUnited States,Department of Computational Biology, University of PittsburghPittsburghUnited States
| | - Maria Chikina
- Department of Computational Biology, University of PittsburghPittsburghUnited States
| | - Nathan Clark
- Department of Human Genetics, University of UtahSalt Lake CityUnited States
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33
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Yamamura Y, Kawamura Y, Oiwa Y, Oka K, Onishi N, Saya H, Miura K. Isolation and characterization of neural stem/progenitor cells in the subventricular zone of the naked mole-rat brain. Inflamm Regen 2021; 41:31. [PMID: 34719407 PMCID: PMC8559411 DOI: 10.1186/s41232-021-00182-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2021] [Accepted: 09/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The naked mole-rat (NMR) is the longest-lived rodent with a maximum lifespan of more than 37 years and shows a negligible senescence phenotype, suggesting that tissue stem cells of NMRs are highly capable of maintaining homeostasis. However, the properties of NMR tissue stem cells, including neural stem cells (NSCs), are largely unclear. Methods Neural stem/progenitor cells (NS/PCs) were isolated from the subventricular zone of the neonate NMR brain (NMR-NS/PCs) and cultured in neurosphere and adherent culture conditions. Expression of NSC markers and markers of neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes was analyzed by immunocytochemistry. In adherent culture conditions, the proliferation rate and cell cycle of NMR-NS/PCs were assessed and compared with those of NS/PCs from mice (mouse-NS/PCs). The DNA damage response to γ-irradiation was analyzed by immunocytochemistry and reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. Results NMR-NS/PCs expressed several NSC markers and differentiated into neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes. NMR-NS/PCs proliferated markedly slower than mouse-NS/PCs, and a higher percentage of NMR-NS/PCs than mouse-NS/PCs was in G0/G1 phase. Notably, upon γ-irradiation, NMR-NS/PCs exhibited a faster initiation of the DNA damage response and were less prone to dying than mouse-NS/PCs. Conclusions NMR-NS/PCs were successfully isolated and cultured. The slow proliferation of NMR-NS/PCs and their resistance to DNA damage may help to prevent stem cell exhaustion in the brain during the long lifespan of NMRs. Our findings provide novel insights into the mechanism underlying delayed aging of NMRs. Further analysis of NMR tissue stem cells may lead to the development of new strategies that can prevent aging in humans. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s41232-021-00182-7.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuki Yamamura
- Department of Aging and Longevity Research, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, 860-0811, Japan
| | - Yoshimi Kawamura
- Department of Aging and Longevity Research, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, 860-0811, Japan
| | - Yuki Oiwa
- Department of Aging and Longevity Research, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, 860-0811, Japan
| | - Kaori Oka
- Department of Aging and Longevity Research, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, 860-0811, Japan
| | - Nobuyuki Onishi
- Division of Gene Regulation, Institute for Advanced Medical Research, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, 160-0016, Japan
| | - Hideyuki Saya
- Division of Gene Regulation, Institute for Advanced Medical Research, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, 160-0016, Japan
| | - Kyoko Miura
- Department of Aging and Longevity Research, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, 860-0811, Japan. .,Center for Metabolic Regulation of Healthy Aging, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, 860-8556, Japan.
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34
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Wollenberg Valero KC, Garcia-Porta J, Irisarri I, Feugere L, Bates A, Kirchhof S, Jovanović Glavaš O, Pafilis P, Samuel SF, Müller J, Vences M, Turner AP, Beltran-Alvarez P, Storey KB. Functional genomics of abiotic environmental adaptation in lacertid lizards and other vertebrates. J Anim Ecol 2021; 91:1163-1179. [PMID: 34695234 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13617] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2021] [Accepted: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the genomic basis of adaptation to different abiotic environments is important in the context of climate change and resulting short-term environmental fluctuations. Using functional and comparative genomics approaches, we here investigated whether signatures of genomic adaptation to a set of environmental parameters are concentrated in specific subsets of genes and functions in lacertid lizards and other vertebrates. We first identify 200 genes with signatures of positive diversifying selection from transcriptomes of 24 species of lacertid lizards and demonstrate their involvement in physiological and morphological adaptations to climate. To understand how functionally similar these genes are to previously predicted candidate functions for climate adaptation and to compare them with other vertebrate species, we then performed a meta-analysis of 1,100 genes under selection obtained from -omics studies in vertebrate species adapted to different abiotic factors. We found that the vertebrate gene set formed a tightly connected interactome, which was to 23% enriched in previously predicted functions of adaptation to climate, and to a large part (18%) involved in organismal stress response. We found a much higher degree of identical genes being repeatedly selected among different animal groups (43.6%), and of functional similarity and post-translational modifications than expected by chance, and no clear functional division between genes used for ectotherm and endotherm physiological strategies. In total, 171 out of 200 genes of Lacertidae were part of this network. These results highlight an important role of a comparatively small set of genes and their functions in environmental adaptation and narrow the set of candidate pathways and markers to be used in future research on adaptation and stress response related to climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Joan Garcia-Porta
- Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Iker Irisarri
- Department of Applied Bioinformatics, Institute for Microbiology and Genetics, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.,Campus Institut Data Science (CIDAS), Göttingen, Germany
| | - Lauric Feugere
- Department of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Hull, Kingston-Upon-Hull, UK
| | - Adam Bates
- Department of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Hull, Kingston-Upon-Hull, UK
| | - Sebastian Kirchhof
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany.,New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | | | - Panayiotis Pafilis
- Section of Zoology and Marine Biology, Department of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Sabrina F Samuel
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Hull, Kingston-Upon-Hull, UK
| | - Johannes Müller
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany
| | - Miguel Vences
- Zoological Institute, Braunschweig University of Technology, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Alexander P Turner
- Department of Computer Science, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
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35
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Kostanjšek R, Diderichsen B, Recknagel H, Gunde-Cimerman N, Gostinčar C, Fan G, Kordiš D, Trontelj P, Jiang H, Bolund L, Luo Y. Toward the massive genome of Proteus anguinus-illuminating longevity, regeneration, convergent evolution, and metabolic disorders. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2021; 1507:5-11. [PMID: 34480358 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.14686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2021] [Revised: 08/13/2021] [Accepted: 08/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Deciphering the genetic code of organisms with unusual phenotypes can help answer fundamental biological questions and provide insight into mechanisms relevant to human biomedical research. The cave salamander Proteus anguinus (Urodela: Proteidae), also known as the olm, is an example of a species with unique morphological and physiological adaptations to its subterranean environment, including regenerative abilities, resistance to prolonged starvation, and a life span of more than 100 years. However, the structure and sequence of the olm genome is still largely unknown owing to its enormous size, estimated at nearly 50 gigabases. An international Proteus Genome Research Consortium has been formed to decipher the olm genome. This perspective provides the scientific and biomedical rationale for exploring the olm genome and outlines potential outcomes, challenges, and methodological approaches required to analyze and annotate the genome of this unique amphibian.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rok Kostanjšek
- Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Børge Diderichsen
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Hans Recknagel
- Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Nina Gunde-Cimerman
- Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Cene Gostinčar
- Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.,Lars Bolund Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Qingdao-Europe Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen, Qingdao, China
| | - Guangyi Fan
- Lars Bolund Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Qingdao-Europe Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen, Qingdao, China
| | - Dušan Kordiš
- Department of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences, Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Peter Trontelj
- Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | | | - Lars Bolund
- Lars Bolund Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Qingdao-Europe Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen, Qingdao, China.,Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Yonglun Luo
- Lars Bolund Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Qingdao-Europe Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen, Qingdao, China.,Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.,Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
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36
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Treaster S, Daane JM, Harris MP. Refining Convergent Rate Analysis with Topology in Mammalian Longevity and Marine Transitions. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 38:5190-5203. [PMID: 34324001 PMCID: PMC8557430 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The quest to map the genetic foundations of phenotypes has been empowered by the modern diversity, quality, and availability of genomic resources. Despite these expanding resources, the abundance of variation within lineages makes it challenging to associate genetic change to specific phenotypes, without an a priori means of isolating the changes from background genomic variation. Evolution provides this means through convergence-i.e., the shared variation that may result from replicate evolutionary experiments across independent trait occurrences. To leverage these opportunities, we developed TRACCER: Topologically Ranked Analysis of Convergence via Comparative Evolutionary Rates. Compared to current methods, this software empowers rate convergence analysis by factoring in topological relationships, because genetic variation between phylogenetically proximate trait changes is more likely to be facilitating the trait. Comparisons are performed not with singular branches, but with the complete paths to the most recent common ancestor for each pair of lineages. This ensures that comparisons represent a single context diverging over the same timeframe while obviating the problematic requirement of assigning ancestral states. We applied TRACCER to two case studies: mammalian transitions to marine environments, an unambiguous collection of traits which have independently evolved three times; and the evolution of mammalian longevity, a less delineated trait but with more instances to compare. By factoring in topology, TRACCER identifies highly significant, convergent genetic signals, with important incongruities and statistical resolution when compared to existing approaches. These improvements in sensitivity and specificity of convergence analysis generates refined targets for downstream validation and identification of genotype-phenotype relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Treaster
- Department of Orthopaedic Research, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02124, USA.,Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02124, USA
| | - Jacob M Daane
- Department of Orthopaedic Research, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02124, USA.,Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02124, USA.,Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Northeastern University Marine Science Center, Nahant, MA, 01908, USA
| | - Matthew P Harris
- Department of Orthopaedic Research, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02124, USA.,Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02124, USA
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37
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Farré X, Molina R, Barteri F, Timmers PRHJ, Joshi PK, Oliva B, Acosta S, Esteve-Altava B, Navarro A, Muntané G. Comparative Analysis of Mammal Genomes Unveils Key Genomic Variability for Human Life Span. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 38:4948-4961. [PMID: 34297086 PMCID: PMC8557403 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The enormous mammal's lifespan variation is the result of each species' adaptations to their own biological trade-offs and ecological conditions. Comparative genomics have demonstrated that genomic factors underlying both, species lifespans and longevity of individuals, are in part shared across the tree of life. Here, we compared protein-coding regions across the mammalian phylogeny to detect individual amino acid (AA) changes shared by the most long-lived mammals and genes whose rates of protein evolution correlate with longevity. We discovered a total of 2,737 AA in 2,004 genes that distinguish long- and short-lived mammals, significantly more than expected by chance (P = 0.003). These genes belong to pathways involved in regulating lifespan, such as inflammatory response and hemostasis. Among them, a total 1,157 AA showed a significant association with maximum lifespan in a phylogenetic test. Interestingly, most of the detected AA positions do not vary in extant human populations (81.2%) or have allele frequencies below 1% (99.78%). Consequently, almost none of these putatively important variants could have been detected by genome-wide association studies. Additionally, we identified four more genes whose rate of protein evolution correlated with longevity in mammals. Crucially, SNPs located in the detected genes explain a larger fraction of human lifespan heritability than expected, successfully demonstrating for the first time that comparative genomics can be used to enhance interpretation of human genome-wide association studies. Finally, we show that the human longevity-associated proteins are significantly more stable than the orthologous proteins from short-lived mammals, strongly suggesting that general protein stability is linked to increased lifespan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xavier Farré
- Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ruben Molina
- Structural Bioinformatics Lab, Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Fabio Barteri
- Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Paul R H J Timmers
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, MRC Institute of Genetics & Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom,Centre for Global Health Research, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Peter K Joshi
- Centre for Global Health Research, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Baldomero Oliva
- Structural Bioinformatics Lab, Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sandra Acosta
- Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Borja Esteve-Altava
- Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
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38
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Junker N, Gossmann TI. Adaptation-Driven Evolution of Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), a Key Regulator of Metabolism and Aging, in Marmot Species. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.666564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The sirtuin protein family plays a role in the lifespan of various species and is involved in numerous key metabolic processes. To understand the evolutionary role of sirtuins in marmots, a long-living rodent species group with remarkable metabolic shutdown during hibernation, we conducted a phylogeny-based substitution rate analysis of coding genes based on genetic information of seven marmot species. We show that sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) has evolved under positive selection in the marmot lineage. We pinpoint three amino acid changes in four different marmot species that underlie the signal of positive selection and that may favor increased longevity in marmots. Based on a computational structural analysis we can show that all three substitutions affect the secondary structure of the same region in human SIRT1. We propose that the identified region is close to the catalytic domain and that the potential structural changes may impact the catalytic activity of the enzyme and therefore might be playing a functional role in marmot's extended lifespan and metabolic shutdown.
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39
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Treaster S, Karasik D, Harris MP. Footprints in the Sand: Deep Taxonomic Comparisons in Vertebrate Genomics to Unveil the Genetic Programs of Human Longevity. Front Genet 2021; 12:678073. [PMID: 34163529 PMCID: PMC8215702 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2021.678073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
With the modern quality, quantity, and availability of genomic sequencing across species, as well as across the expanse of human populations, we can screen for shared signatures underlying longevity and lifespan. Knowledge of these mechanisms would be medically invaluable in combating aging and age-related diseases. The diversity of longevities across vertebrates is an opportunity to look for patterns of genetic variation that may signal how this life history property is regulated, and ultimately how it can be modulated. Variation in human longevity provides a unique window to look for cases of extreme lifespan within a population, as well as associations across populations for factors that influence capacity to live longer. Current large cohort studies support the use of population level analyses to identify key factors associating with human lifespan. These studies are powerful in concept, but have demonstrated limited ability to resolve signals from background variation. In parallel, the expanding catalog of sequencing and annotation from diverse species, some of which have evolved longevities well past a human lifespan, provides independent cases to look at the genomic signatures of longevity. Recent comparative genomic work has shown promise in finding shared mechanisms associating with longevity among distantly related vertebrate groups. Given the genetic constraints between vertebrates, we posit that a combination of approaches, of parallel meta-analysis of human longevity along with refined analysis of other vertebrate clades having exceptional longevity, will aid in resolving key regulators of enhanced lifespan that have proven to be elusive when analyzed in isolation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Treaster
- Department of Orthopaedics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States.,Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - David Karasik
- Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.,Marcus Institute for Aging Research, Hebrew SeniorLife, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Matthew P Harris
- Department of Orthopaedics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States.,Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
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40
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Molecular evolution and the decline of purifying selection with age. Nat Commun 2021; 12:2657. [PMID: 33976227 PMCID: PMC8113359 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22981-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2020] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Life history theory predicts that the intensity of selection declines with age, and this trend should impact how genes expressed at different ages evolve. Here we find consistent relationships between a gene’s age of expression and patterns of molecular evolution in two mammals (the human Homo sapiens and the mouse Mus musculus) and two insects (the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae and the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster). When expressed later in life, genes fix nonsynonymous mutations more frequently, are more polymorphic for nonsynonymous mutations, and have shorter evolutionary lifespans, relative to those expressed early. The latter pattern is explained by a simple evolutionary model. Further, early-expressed genes tend to be enriched in similar gene ontology terms across species, while late-expressed genes show no such consistency. In humans, late-expressed genes are more likely to be linked to cancer and to segregate for dominant disease-causing mutations. Last, the effective strength of selection (Nes) decreases and the fraction of beneficial mutations increases with a gene’s age of expression. These results are consistent with the diminishing efficacy of purifying selection with age, as proposed by Medawar’s classic hypothesis for the evolution of senescence, and provide links between life history theory and molecular evolution. A fundamental principle of evolutionary theory is that the force of natural selection is weaker on traits expressed late in life relative to traits expressed early. Here, the authors find strong and consistent patterns of molecular evolution reflecting this principle in four species of animals, including humans.
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41
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Garagnani P, Marquis J, Delledonne M, Pirazzini C, Marasco E, Kwiatkowska KM, Iannuzzi V, Bacalini MG, Valsesia A, Carayol J, Raymond F, Ferrarini A, Xumerle L, Collino S, Mari D, Arosio B, Casati M, Ferri E, Monti D, Nacmias B, Sorbi S, Luiselli D, Pettener D, Castellani G, Sala C, Passarino G, De Rango F, D'Aquila P, Bertamini L, Martinelli N, Girelli D, Olivieri O, Giuliani C, Descombes P, Franceschi C. Whole-genome sequencing analysis of semi-supercentenarians. eLife 2021; 10:57849. [PMID: 33941312 PMCID: PMC8096429 DOI: 10.7554/elife.57849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2020] [Accepted: 04/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Extreme longevity is the paradigm of healthy aging as individuals who reached the extreme decades of human life avoided or largely postponed all major age-related diseases. In this study, we sequenced at high coverage (90X) the whole genome of 81 semi-supercentenarians and supercentenarians [105+/110+] (mean age: 106.6 ± 1.6) and of 36 healthy unrelated geographically matched controls (mean age 68.0 ± 5.9) recruited in Italy. The results showed that 105+/110+ are characterized by a peculiar genetic background associated with efficient DNA repair mechanisms, as evidenced by both germline data (common and rare variants) and somatic mutations patterns (lower mutation load if compared to younger healthy controls). Results were replicated in a second independent cohort of 333 Italian centenarians and 358 geographically matched controls. The genetics of 105+/110+ identified DNA repair and clonal haematopoiesis as crucial players for healthy aging and for the protection from cardiovascular events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paolo Garagnani
- Department of Experimental, Diagnostic, and Specialty Medicine (DIMES), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.,Clinical Chemistry, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet at Huddinge University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.,Alma Mater Research Institute on Global Challenges and Climate Change (Alma Climate), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Julien Marquis
- Nestlé Research, Société des Produits Nestlé SA, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Massimo Delledonne
- Functional Genomics Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Chiara Pirazzini
- IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Elena Marasco
- Department of Experimental, Diagnostic, and Specialty Medicine (DIMES), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.,Applied Biomedical Research Center (CRBA), S. Orsola-Malpighi Polyclinic, Bologna, Italy
| | | | - Vincenzo Iannuzzi
- Alma Mater Research Institute on Global Challenges and Climate Change (Alma Climate), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | | | - Armand Valsesia
- Nestlé Research, Société des Produits Nestlé SA, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Jerome Carayol
- Nestlé Research, Société des Produits Nestlé SA, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Frederic Raymond
- Nestlé Research, Société des Produits Nestlé SA, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Alberto Ferrarini
- Functional Genomics Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Luciano Xumerle
- Functional Genomics Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | | | - Daniela Mari
- Fondazione Ca' Granda, IRCCS Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
| | - Beatrice Arosio
- Fondazione Ca' Granda, IRCCS Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy.,Geriatric Unit, Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Martina Casati
- Fondazione Ca' Granda, IRCCS Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
| | - Evelyn Ferri
- Fondazione Ca' Granda, IRCCS Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
| | - Daniela Monti
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences "Mario Serio", University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | - Benedetta Nacmias
- Department of Neuroscience, Psychology, Drug Research and Child Health, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi, Firenze, Italy
| | - Sandro Sorbi
- Department of Neuroscience, Psychology, Drug Research and Child Health, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi, Firenze, Italy
| | - Donata Luiselli
- Department for the Cultural Heritage (DBC), University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy
| | - Davide Pettener
- Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences (BiGeA), Laboratory of Molecular Anthropology and Centre for Genome Biology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Gastone Castellani
- Department of Experimental, Diagnostic, and Specialty Medicine (DIMES), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Claudia Sala
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Passarino
- Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Calabria, Rende, Italy
| | - Francesco De Rango
- Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Calabria, Rende, Italy
| | - Patrizia D'Aquila
- Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Calabria, Rende, Italy
| | - Luca Bertamini
- Department of Experimental, Diagnostic, and Specialty Medicine (DIMES), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.,Department of Medicine, Unit of Internal Medicine, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Nicola Martinelli
- Department of Medicine, Unit of Internal Medicine, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Domenico Girelli
- Department of Medicine, Unit of Internal Medicine, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Oliviero Olivieri
- Department of Medicine, Unit of Internal Medicine, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Cristina Giuliani
- Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences (BiGeA), Laboratory of Molecular Anthropology and Centre for Genome Biology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.,School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Patrick Descombes
- Nestlé Research, Société des Produits Nestlé SA, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Claudio Franceschi
- Department of Experimental, Diagnostic, and Specialty Medicine (DIMES), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.,IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Bologna, Italy.,Department of Applied Mathematics and Laboratory of Systems Biology of Aging, Lobachevsky University, Nizhny Novgorod, Russian Federation
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Saputra E, Kowalczyk A, Cusick L, Clark N, Chikina M. Phylogenetic Permulations: A Statistically Rigorous Approach to Measure Confidence in Associations in a Phylogenetic Context. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 38:3004-3021. [PMID: 33739420 PMCID: PMC8233500 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Many evolutionary comparative methods seek to identify associations between phenotypic traits or between traits and genotypes, often with the goal of inferring potential functional relationships between them. Comparative genomics methods aimed at this goal measure the association between evolutionary changes at the genetic level with traits evolving convergently across phylogenetic lineages. However, these methods have complex statistical behaviors that are influenced by nontrivial and oftentimes unknown confounding factors. Consequently, using standard statistical analyses in interpreting the outputs of these methods leads to potentially inaccurate conclusions. Here, we introduce phylogenetic permulations, a novel statistical strategy that combines phylogenetic simulations and permutations to calculate accurate, unbiased P values from phylogenetic methods. Permulations construct the null expectation for P values from a given phylogenetic method by empirically generating null phenotypes. Subsequently, empirical P values that capture the true statistical confidence given the correlation structure in the data are directly calculated based on the empirical null expectation. We examine the performance of permulation methods by analyzing both binary and continuous phenotypes, including marine, subterranean, and long-lived large-bodied mammal phenotypes. Our results reveal that permulations improve the statistical power of phylogenetic analyses and correctly calibrate statements of confidence in rejecting complex null distributions while maintaining or improving the enrichment of known functions related to the phenotype. We also find that permulations refine pathway enrichment analyses by correcting for nonindependence in gene ranks. Our results demonstrate that permulations are a powerful tool for improving statistical confidence in the conclusions of phylogenetic analysis when the parametric null is unknown.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elysia Saputra
- Joint Carnegie Mellon University - University of Pittsburgh PhD Program in Computational Biology, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.,Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Amanda Kowalczyk
- Joint Carnegie Mellon University - University of Pittsburgh PhD Program in Computational Biology, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.,Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Luisa Cusick
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Nathan Clark
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.,Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.,Pittsburgh Center for Evolutionary Biology and Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Maria Chikina
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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43
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Mohammed I, Hollenberg MD, Ding H, Triggle CR. A Critical Review of the Evidence That Metformin Is a Putative Anti-Aging Drug That Enhances Healthspan and Extends Lifespan. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2021; 12:718942. [PMID: 34421827 PMCID: PMC8374068 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2021.718942] [Citation(s) in RCA: 119] [Impact Index Per Article: 39.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2021] [Accepted: 07/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The numerous beneficial health outcomes associated with the use of metformin to treat patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM), together with data from pre-clinical studies in animals including the nematode, C. elegans, and mice have prompted investigations into whether metformin has therapeutic utility as an anti-aging drug that may also extend lifespan. Indeed, clinical trials, including the MILES (Metformin In Longevity Study) and TAME (Targeting Aging with Metformin), have been designed to assess the potential benefits of metformin as an anti-aging drug. Preliminary analysis of results from MILES indicate that metformin may induce anti-aging transcriptional changes; however it remains controversial as to whether metformin is protective in those subjects free of disease. Furthermore, despite clinical use for over 60 years as an anti-diabetic drug, the cellular mechanisms by which metformin exerts either its actions remain unclear. In this review, we have critically evaluated the literature that has investigated the effects of metformin on aging, healthspan and lifespan in humans as well as other species. In preparing this review, particular attention has been placed on the strength and reproducibility of data and quality of the study protocols with respect to the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of metformin. We conclude that despite data in support of anti-aging benefits, the evidence that metformin increases lifespan remains controversial. However, via its ability to reduce early mortality associated with various diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline and cancer, metformin can improve healthspan thereby extending the period of life spent in good health. Based on the available evidence we conclude that the beneficial effects of metformin on aging and healthspan are primarily indirect via its effects on cellular metabolism and result from its anti-hyperglycemic action, enhancing insulin sensitivity, reduction of oxidative stress and protective effects on the endothelium and vascular function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ibrahim Mohammed
- Department of Medical Education, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Al-Rayyan, Qatar
- *Correspondence: Chris R. Triggle, ; Ibrahim Mohammed,
| | - Morley D. Hollenberg
- Inflammation Research Network and Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases, Department of Physiology & Pharmacology, University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Department of Medicine, University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Hong Ding
- Department of Medical Education, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Al-Rayyan, Qatar
- Departments of Medical Education and Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Al-Rayyan, Qatar
| | - Chris R. Triggle
- Department of Medical Education, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Al-Rayyan, Qatar
- Departments of Medical Education and Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Al-Rayyan, Qatar
- *Correspondence: Chris R. Triggle, ; Ibrahim Mohammed,
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44
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Wong W, Kim A, Monaghan JR, Seifert AW, Maden M, Crane JD. Spiny mice (Acomys) exhibit attenuated hallmarks of aging and rapid cell turnover after UV exposure in the skin epidermis. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0241617. [PMID: 33125436 PMCID: PMC7598470 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241617] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2020] [Accepted: 10/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The study of long-lived and regenerative animal models has revealed diverse protective responses to stressors such as aging and tissue injury. Spiny mice (Acomys) are a unique mammalian model of skin wound regeneration, but their response to other types of physiological skin damage has not been investigated. In this study, we examine how spiny mouse skin responds to acute UVB damage or chronological aging compared to non-regenerative C57Bl/6 mice (M. musculus). We find that, compared to M. musculus, the skin epidermis in A. cahirinus experiences a similar UVB-induced increase in basal cell proliferation but exhibits increased epidermal turnover. Notably, A. cahirinus uniquely form a suprabasal layer co-expressing Keratin 14 and Keratin 10 after UVB exposure concomitant with reduced epidermal inflammatory signaling and reduced markers of DNA damage. In the context of aging, old M. musculus animals exhibit typical hallmarks including epidermal thinning, increased inflammatory signaling and senescence. However, these age-related changes are absent in old A. cahirinus skin. Overall, we find that A. cahirinus have evolved novel responses to skin damage that reveals new aspects of its regenerative phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wesley Wong
- Department of Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Austin Kim
- Department of Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - James R. Monaghan
- Department of Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Ashley W. Seifert
- Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, United States of America
| | - Malcolm Maden
- UF Genetics Institute & Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Justin D. Crane
- Department of Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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45
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Shepard A, Kissil JL. The use of non-traditional models in the study of cancer resistance-the case of the naked mole rat. Oncogene 2020; 39:5083-5097. [PMID: 32535616 DOI: 10.1038/s41388-020-1355-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2020] [Revised: 05/15/2020] [Accepted: 06/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Non-traditional model organisms are typically defined as any model the deviates from the typical laboratory animals, such as mouse, rat, and worm. These models are becoming increasingly important in human disease research, such as cancer, as they often display unusual biological features. Naked mole rats (NMRs) are currently one of the most popular non-traditional model, particularly in the longevity and cancer research fields. NMRs display an exceptionally long lifespan (~30 years), yet have been observed to display a low incidence of cancer, making them excellent candidates for understanding endogenous cancer resistance mechanisms. Over the past decade, many potential resistance mechanisms have been characterized. These include unique biological mechanisms involved in genome stability, protein stability, oxidative metabolism, and other cellular mechanisms such as cell cycle regulation and senescence. This review aims to summarize the many identified cancer resistance mechanisms to understand some of the main hypotheses that have thus far been generated. Many of these proposed mechanisms remain to be fully characterized or confirmed in vivo, giving the field a direction to grow and further understand the complex biology displayed by the NMR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alyssa Shepard
- Department of Molecular Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, FL, 33458, USA
| | - Joseph L Kissil
- Department of Molecular Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, FL, 33458, USA.
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