The short-lived fish Nothobranchius furzeri as a new model system for aging studies

Genetic and pharmacological research on aging is hampered by the lifespan of available vertebrate models. We recently initiated studies on Nothobranchius furzeri, a species with a maximum life expectancy in captivity of just three months which represents the shortest documented captive lifespan for a vertebrate. Further research on N. furzeri has demonstrated that1.Short lifespan is tied with explosive growth and accelerated sexual maturation.2.Short lifespan is correlated with expression of age-related behavioral and histological changes.3.Lifespan and expression of age-related markers can be modulated by water temperature.4.Resveratrol, a drug characterized for its life-extending action in Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila, increases lifespan and retards expression of age-related markers.5.Aging-related genes can be easily isolated by homology cloning.Finally, different populations or species of Nothobranchius show large-scale differences in captive lifespan.In the last three years, N. furzeri has moved from biological curiosity to a promising model system for drug validation. Furthermore, this species occupies a favorable position in the Teleost’s “tree of life”. It is very close to the Japanese Medaka, and close to the pufferfishes and stickleback and might represent a very useful model for comparative genomics of aging.