Correlated evolution of social organization and lifespan in mammals

Zhu, Pingfen; Liu, Weiqiang; Zhang, Xiaoxiao; Li, Meng; Yu, Yang; Li, Zihao; Li, Xuanjing; Du, Juan; Wang, Xiao; Grueter, Cyril C.; Li, Ming; Zhou, Xuming

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-35869-7

Cited by 29 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 186 publications

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“…Longevity and size are clearly complex traits that are both correlated with each other, and also with other traits, e.g. sociality [46].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A phylogenetic method linking nucleotide substitution rates to rates of continuous trait evolution

Gemmell,

Sackton,

Edwards

et al. 2023

Preprint

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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. The R/C++ software package implementing our method is available under an open source license fromhttps://github.com/phyloacc/PhyloAcc-C.

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“…Longevity and size are clearly complex traits that are both correlated with each other, and also with other traits, e.g. sociality [46].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Longevity and size are clearly complex traits that are both correlated with each other, and also with other traits, e.g. sociality [46]. Moreover, is not unreasonable to think that thousands of enhancers and (at least) hundreds of genes are systematically involved in the evolution of lifespan and body size.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A phylogenetic method linking nucleotide substitution rates to rates of continuous trait evolution

Gemmell,

Sackton,

Edwards

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…S1, and Methods). Previously published transcriptomes of liver, kidney and brain of 50 additional species were also used (2,16,18,(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35) (Fig. 1A, Fig.…”

Section: Data Generation and Species-specific Gene Expressionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary transcriptomics reveals longevity mostly driven by polygenic and indirect selection in mammals

Liu

Zhu

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The maximum lifespan varies more than 100-fold in mammals. This experiment of nature may uncover of the evolutionary forces and molecular features that define longevity. To understand the relationship between gene expression variation and maximum lifespan, we carried out a comparative transcriptomics analysis of liver, kidney, and brain tissues of 106 mammalian species. We found that expression is largely conserved and very limited genes exhibit common expression patterns with longevity in all the three organs analyzed. However, many pathways, e.g., Insulin signaling pathway, and FoxO signaling pathway, show accumulated correlations with maximum lifespan across mammals. Analyses of selection features further reveal that methionine restriction related genes whose expressions associated with longevity, are under strong selection in long-lived mammals, suggesting that a common approach could be utilized by natural selection and artificial intervention to control lifespan. These results suggest that natural lifespan regulation via gene expression is likely to be driven through polygenic model and indirect selection.

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“…However, in the context of evolution, it would also make sense that the perturbation of genes that are highly conserved in long‐lived species is so stringently conserved because these genes cannot tolerate perturbation and, as a consequence, would shorten lifespan if mutated. Another hypothesis is that ageing is conserved in mammals, and as longevity is positively correlated with the complexity of the intraspecies relationships – meaning that in social species living in groups, longevity provides a fitness benefit to the survival of the population – it is consequently an adaptation [94]. In this context, shared – or at least similar – variations in genes of long‐lived species that are otherwise conserved in all mammals are of interest [95].…”

Section: Current Approaches To Studying the Genetics Of Longevity In ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetics of human longevity: From variants to genes to pathways

Smulders,

Deelen

2023

J Intern Med

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The current increase in lifespan without an equivalent increase in healthspan poses a grave challenge to the healthcare system and a severe burden on society. However, some individuals seem to be able to live a long and healthy life without the occurrence of major debilitating chronic diseases, and part of this trait seems to be hidden in their genome. In this review, we discuss the findings from studies on the genetic component of human longevity and the main challenges accompanying these studies. We subsequently focus on results from genetic studies in model organisms and comparative genomic approaches to highlight the most important conserved longevity‐associated pathways. By combining the results from studies using these different approaches, we conclude that only five main pathways have been consistently linked to longevity, namely (1) insulin/insulin‐like growth factor 1 signalling, (2) DNA‐damage response and repair, (3) immune function, (4) cholesterol metabolism and (5) telomere maintenance. As our current approaches to study the relevance of these pathways in humans are limited, we suggest that future studies on the genetics of human longevity should focus on the identification and functional characterization of rare genetic variants in genes involved in these pathways.

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Correlated evolution of social organization and lifespan in mammals

Cited by 29 publications

References 186 publications

A phylogenetic method linking nucleotide substitution rates to rates of continuous trait evolution

A phylogenetic method linking nucleotide substitution rates to rates of continuous trait evolution

Evolutionary transcriptomics reveals longevity mostly driven by polygenic and indirect selection in mammals

Genetics of human longevity: From variants to genes to pathways

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