Genes of the long-lived perch

Scientists have found the key to longevity in 200-year-old fish

Anna Lysenko, News Mail.ru

Some animal species are considered to be true centenarians. Almost the most of them are among the fish. For example, Greenland sharks can live for more than 500 years.

That's why a group of biologists from the University of California, Berkeley, who studies the genetics of aging, decided to take a closer look at marine life. They focused on studying sea bass (Sebastes). There are more than 120 species in this genus, and some of them can live for more than 200 years.

The longest–lived species, the Aleutian sea bass (Latin Sebastes aleutianus) - VM.

Scientists analyzed the genomes of 88 species of sea bass and identified 137 specific genes that increase life expectancy.

It turned out that perch-centenarians have more genes associated with the restoration of damaged DNA. This makes them less susceptible to certain types of cancer. Several more genes were associated with insulin regulation, which is also associated with longevity.

A third group of genes, known as butyrophilins, regulates the immune system of sea bass. Similar genes in humans are associated with suppressing inflammation in old age.

Scientists believe that these discoveries will point them to the most important groups of genes for human longevity.

Genetics is not the only thing that affects the life span of a sea bass. Scientists have found that habitat and size are an important factor. For example, large organisms do not age so quickly due to slow metabolism. Cold water also slows down metabolism, so Greenland sharks and other Arctic marine inhabitants live relatively long.

Article by Kolora et al. Origins and evolution of extreme life span in Pacific Ocean rockfishes is published in the journal Science. 

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