Telomere-independent ageing in the longest-lived non-colonial animal, Arctica islandica

• We detected the highly conserved telomeric repeat sequence in genomic DNA of several Arctica islandica populations.
• We measured telomere length in different old Arctica with no change over age or differences between populations or tissues.
• Telomerase activity was also highly heterogenous between ages, tissues and populations.
• Telomere dynamics does not trigger vast discrepancies between maximum lifespans of different populations of A. islandica.

The shortening of telomeres as a causative factor in ageing is a widely discussed hypothesis in ageing research. The study of telomere length and its regenerating enzyme telomerase in the longest-lived non-colonial animal on earth, Arctica islandica, should inform whether the maintenance of telomere length plays a role in reaching the extreme maximum lifespan (MLSP) of > 500 years in this species. Since longitudinal measurements on living animals cannot be achieved, a cross-sectional analysis of a short-lived (MLSP 40 years from the Baltic Sea) and a long-lived population (MLSP 226 years Northeast of Iceland) and in different tissues of young and old animals from the Irish Sea was performed. A high heterogeneity of telomere length was observed in investigated A. islandica over a wide age range (10–36 years for the Baltic Sea, 11–194 years for Irish Sea, 6–226 years for Iceland). Constant telomerase activity and telomere lengths were detected at any age and in different tissues; neither correlated with age or population habitat. Stable telomere maintenance might contribute to the long lifespan of A. islandica. Telomere dynamics are no explanation for the distinct MLSPs of the examined populations and thus the cause of it remains to be investigated.