What modulates animal longevity ? Fast and slow aging in bivalves as a model for the study of lifespan

• Published in: Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology
• Main Authors: Blier, Pierre, Abele, Doris, Munro, Daniel, Dégletagne, Cyril, Rodriguez, Enrique, Hagen, Tory
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de Physiologie Animale Intégrative, Département de Biologie, Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), Department of Shelf Sea Ecology, Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung = Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research = Institut Alfred-Wegener pour la recherche polaire et marine (AWI), Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft = Helmholtz Association-Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft = Helmholtz Association, Laboratoire d'Ecologie des Hydrosystèmes Naturels et Anthropisés (LEHNA), Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'État (ENTPE)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University (OSU)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2017
• Subjects: [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; Arctica islandica
• Online Access: https://sde.hal.science/hal-01689743; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semcdb.2017.07.046

International audience Delineating the physiological and biochemical causes of aging process in the animal kingdom is a highly active area of research not only because of potential benefits for human health but also because aging process is related to life history strategies (growth and reproduction) and to responses of organisms to environmental conditions and stress. In this synthesis, we advocate studying bivalve species as models for revealing the determinants of species divergences in maximal longevity. This taxonomic group includes the longest living metazoan on earth (Arctica islandica), which insures the widest range of maximum life span when shorter living species are also included in the comparative model. This model can also be useful for uncovering factors modulating the pace of aging in given species by taking advantages of the wide disparity of lifespan among different populations of the same species. For example, maximal lifespan in different populations of A islandica range from approximately 36 years to over 500 years. In the last 15 years, research has revealed that either regulation or tolerance to oxidative stress is tightly correlated to longevity in this group which support further investigations on this taxon to unveil putative mechanistic links between Reactive Oxygen Species and aging process.