Abstract
Freshwater polyps of the genus Hydra do not age. However, temperature stress induces aging and a shift from reproduction by asexual budding to sexual gamete production in a cold-sensitive (CS) strain of H. oligactis. We sequenced the transcriptome of a male CS strain before and after this life history shift and compared changes in gene expression relative to those seen in a cold-resistant (CR) strain that does not undergo a life history shift in response to altered temperature. We found that the switch from non-aging asexual reproduction to aging and sexual reproduction involves upregulation of genes not only involved in gametogenesis but also genes involved in cellular senescence, apoptosis, and DNA repair accompanied by a downregulation of genes involved in stem cell maintenance. These results suggest that aging is a byproduct of sexual reproduction-associated cellular reprogramming and underscore the power of these H. oligactis strains to identify intrinsic mechanisms of aging.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1119-1132 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | GeroScience |
Volume | 42 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 1 2020 |
Keywords
- Aging
- Cold-sensitive
- DNA repair
- Gametogenesis
- Hydra oligactis
- Transcriptome
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Aging
- veterinary (miscalleneous)
- Complementary and alternative medicine
- Geriatrics and Gerontology
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine