Photo credit: Avnika Ruparelia
Life’s tough for African killifish. They only live for three to four months. They suffer from the same diseases of old-aging that we do – cancer, short telomeres, and wasting muscles. But in their old age the muscle wasting slows and may even reverse. Could that happen to people as well? Avnika Ruparelia is unraveling the mysteries of vertebrate aging at Australia’s only killifish research facility.
The secrets of ‘late-life’
African killifish eggs can wait years for water. When the rains come, the eggs hatch, but the fish only have a record-breaking three-month short life. Within a few months, the fish suffer from the same diseases of ageing that we do – cancer, reduced regenerative capacity, short telomeres and wasting muscles.
Then, the muscle wasting slows and may even reverse. Could that happen in people as well?
Avnika Ruparelia from ARMI and The University of Melbourne runs the only killifish research facility in Australia, working with these amazing fish to unravel some of the mysteries of vertebrate ageing.
“African killifish are beautiful – ranked among the top “world’s most gorgeous fish” list,” she says. Avnika.
Photo credit: Avnika Ruparelia
“And they have a unique life history: In addition to having an extremely short lifespan (which is great for ageing studies), their larval stages are quite unique as well. During the dry season, the eggs deposited in the mud undergo developmental arrest and they can stay there for months, if not years,” Avnika says.
“Once it starts raining (or you expose them to water), they resume development and then hatch, grow rapidly and then start to age. So essentially, they have these two stages: the egg stage which can undergo developmental arrest, which could give clues to anti-ageing mechanisms, and the adult stages, whereby ageing occurs rapidly,” she says.
Photo credit: Avnika Ruparelia
Avnika had a paper in May – https://bit.ly/3rtsEjt.
Also today
- Finding plants and animals out of thin air
- Why are pygmy perch so small?
More below.
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Also today:
Finding plants and animals out of thin air
Mathew Barnes, from Texas Tech University, is finding plants and animals out of thin air. He’s shown he can detect plants and animals in shortgrass prairies across the Great Plains of America by sampling DNA in the air.
He’s now planning a series of projects to use this eDNA to track ecological restoration, changes to endangered and invasive species, and the impact of global warming.
Why are pygmy perch so small?
Genomic basis of body miniaturization in Southern pygmy perch.
Miniaturization, an extreme reduction of body size, plays a crucial role in the diversification and preservation of biodiversity.
By comparing Australian perch genomes, Jonathan Sandoval from Flinders University and colleagues identified a handful of genes linked to the miniaturisation of the southern pygmy perch.
These results offer valuable insights into the evolution and persistence of Australian fishes.
https://molecularecology.flinders.edu.au/
Plus
- Stuttering gene found.
- Solving cold cases.
- Early interventions into cerebral palsy.
- Faster, kinder mitochondrial disease testing.
- Concerns about gene testing and genomic medicine.
