Nothobranchius annual killifishes
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Terzibasi Tozzini and Cellerino EvoDevo (2020)11:25 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13227-020-00170-x
Open Access
REVIEW
Nothobranchius annual killifishes Eva Terzibasi Tozzini1 and Alessandro Cellerino2,3*
Abstract Annual fishes of the genus Nothobranchius inhabit ephemeral habitats in Eastern and Southeastern Africa. Their life cycle is characterized by very rapid maturation, a posthatch lifespan of a few weeks to months and embryonic diapause to survive the dry season. The species N. furzeri holds the record of the fastest-maturing vertebrate and of the vertebrate with the shortest captive lifespan and is emerging as model organism in biomedical research, evolutionary biology, and developmental biology. Extensive characterization of age-related phenotypes in the laboratory and of ecology, distribution, and demography in the wild are available. Species/populations from habitats differing in precipitation intensity show parallel evolution of lifespan and age-related traits that conform to the classical theories on aging. Genome sequencing and the establishment of CRISPR/Cas9 techniques made this species particularly attractive to investigate the effects genetic and non-genetic intervention on lifespan and aging-related phenotypes. At the same time, annual fishes are a very interesting subject for comparative approaches, including genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics. The N. furzeri community is highly diverse and rapidly expanding and organizes a biannual meeting. Keywords: Teleost, Life history adaptation, Aging, Diapause, Comparative genomics, Transgenesis, CRISPR/Cas9, Extreme habitat, RNA-seq, Neurodegeneration Natural habitat and life cycle During the Monsoon season, many regions of the African Savannah are characterized by the formation of scattered ephemeral water pans of varying size, from a few square meters up to the extension of a small lake. These originate from the overflow of seasonal rivers and are characterized by progressively reduced size, rain-dependent duration, and strong excursions of water temperature and composition. Ephemeral ponds are inhabited by limited number of aquatic vertebrate species that coexist due to the evolution of specific, sometimes opposite, life strategies as adaptations to this erratic and inhospitable environment [1]. A notorious inhabitant of these ponds is the long-lived African lungfish (Protopterus annectens), which can survive the dry seasons thanks to its primitive lung and to its ability to enter in a state of quiescence (aestivation). This *Correspondence: [email protected] 2 Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
species is very long lived. Killifishes of the genus Nothobranchius evolved an opposite life history adaptation and are colloquially known as “annual fishes” in analogy to the life cycle of annual plants (Fig. 1a–c) [2]. Adult fish die at the end of the rainy season when the puddles desiccate. The embryos survive for months or years encased in the dry mud in a state
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