scholarly journals Nothobranchius furzeri, an 'instant' fish from an ephemeral habitat

eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Reichard ◽  
Matej Polačik

The turquoise killifish, Nothobranchius furzeri, is a promising vertebrate model in ageing research and an emerging model organism in genomics, regenerative medicine, developmental biology and ecotoxicology. Its lifestyle is adapted to the ephemeral nature of shallow pools on the African savannah. Its rapid and short active life commences when rains fill the pool: fish hatch, grow rapidly and mature in as few as two weeks, and then reproduce daily until the pool dries out. Its embryos then become inactive, encased in the dry sediment and protected from the harsh environment until the rains return. This invertebrate-like life cycle (short active phase and long developmental arrest) combined with a vertebrate body plan provide the ideal attributes for a laboratory animal.

2020 ◽  
pp. 073346482096261
Author(s):  
Carol Opdebeeck ◽  
Michael A. Katsaris ◽  
Anthony Martyr ◽  
Ruth A. Lamont ◽  
James A. Pickett ◽  
...  

Pet ownership has been associated with positive outcomes in many populations, yet the associations with physical and psychological wellbeing in people with dementia remain unclear. The current study used baseline data from 1,542 people living at home with mild-to-moderate dementia from the Improving the experience of Dementia and Enhancing Active Life (IDEAL) programme. Regression analyses investigated associations of pet ownership and pet care with self-reports of walking, loneliness, depression, and quality of life (QoL). After adjusting for covariates, having any pet was associated with higher likelihood of walking over 3 hr in the last week. Those with a dog and who were involved in its care were less likely to be lonely than those with no dog. Having any pet but no involvement in its care was associated with increased depression and decreased QoL compared with those without a pet. The key factor in the associations was involvement in the care of the pet by the person with dementia.


Biomolecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1421
Author(s):  
Valentina S. Evsiukova ◽  
Elizabeth A. Kulikova ◽  
Alexander V. Kulikov

Short-lived turquoise killifish (Nothobranchius furzeri) have become a popular model organism for neuroscience. In the present paper we study for the first time their behavior in the novel tank diving test and the levels of mRNA of various 5-HT-related genes in brains of 2-, 4- and 6-month-old males and females of N. furzeri. The marked effect of age on body mass, locomotor activity and the mRNA level of Tph1b, Tph2, Slc6a4b, Mao, Htr1aa, Htr2a, Htr3a, Htr3b, Htr4, Htr6 genes in the brains of N. furzeri males was shown. Locomotor activity and expression of the Mao gene increased, while expression of Tph1b, Tph2, Slc6a4b, Htr1aa, Htr2a, Htr3a, Htr3b, Htr4, Htr6 genes decreased in 6-month-old killifish. Significant effects of sex on body mass as well as on mRNA level of Tph1a, Tph1b, Tph2, Slc6a4b, Htr1aa, 5-HT2a, Htr3a, Htr3b, Htr4, and Htr6 genes were revealed: in general both the body mass and the expression of these genes were higher in males. N. furzeri is a suitable model with which to study the fundamental problems of age-related alterations in various mRNA levels related with the brains 5-HT system.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (16) ◽  
pp. 8448-8457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eli S. J. Thoré ◽  
Laure Steenaerts ◽  
Charlotte Philippe ◽  
Arnout Grégoir ◽  
Luc Brendonck ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eda Altan ◽  
Steven V. Kubiski ◽  
Ákos Boros ◽  
Gábor Reuter ◽  
Mohammadreza Sadeghi ◽  
...  

AbstractZebrafish have been extensively used as a model system for research in vertebrate development and pathogen-host interactions. We describe the complete genome of a novel picornavirus identified during a viral metagenomics analysis of zebrafish gut tissue. The closest relatives of this virus showed identity of ≤19.8% in their P1 capsids and ≤35.4% in their RdRp qualifying zebrafish picornavirus 1 (ZfPV1) as member of a novel genus with a proposed name of Cyprivirus. RT-PCR testing of zebrafish from 41 institutions from North America, Europe, and Asia showed ZfPV1 to be highly prevalent world-wide. In situ hybridization of whole zebrafish showed viral RNA was restricted to a subset of enterocytes and cells in the subjacent lamina propria of the intestine and the intestinal mucosa. This naturally occurring and apparently asymptomatic infection (in wild type zebrafish lineage AB) provides a natural infection system to study picornavirus-host interactions in an advanced vertebrate model organism. Whether ZfPV1 infection affects any immunological, developmental or other biological processes in wild type or mutant zebrafish lineages remains to be determined.


Author(s):  
Linda Clare ◽  
Sharon M Nelis ◽  
Catherine Quinn ◽  
Anthony Martyr ◽  
Catherine Henderson ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Smith ◽  
David Willemsen ◽  
Miriam Popkes ◽  
Franziska Metge ◽  
Edson Gandiwa ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTGut bacteria occupy the interface between the organism and the external environment, contributing to homeostasis and disease. Yet, the causal role of the gut microbiota during host aging is largely unexplored. Here, using the African turquoise killifish (Nothobranchius furzeri), a naturally short-lived vertebrate, we show that the gut microbiota plays a key role in modulating vertebrate life span. Recolonizing the gut of middle-age individuals with bacteria from young donors resulted in life span extension and delayed behavioral decline. This intervention prevented the decrease in microbial diversity associated with host aging and maintained a young-like gut bacterial community, characterized by overrepresentation of the key genera Exiguobacterium, Planococcus, Propionigenium and Psychrobacter. Our findings demonstrate that the natural microbial gut community of young individuals can causally induce long-lasting beneficial systemic effects that lead to life span extension in a vertebrate model.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Baumgart ◽  
Emanuel Barth ◽  
Aurora Savino ◽  
Marco Groth ◽  
Philipp Koch ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBackground: The short-lived fish Nothobranchius furzeri is the shortest-lived vertebrate that can be cultured in captivity and was recently established as a model organism for aging research. Small non-coding RNAs, especially miRNAs, are implicated in age-dependent control of gene expression.Results: Here, we present a comprehensive catalogue of miRNAs and several other non-coding RNA classes (ncRNAs) for Nothobranchius furzeri. Analyzing multiple small RNA-Seq libraries, we show most of these identified miRNAs are expressed in at least one of seven Nothobranchius species. Additionally, duplication and clustering of N. furzeri miRNAs was analyzed and compared to the four fish species Danio rerio, Oryzias latipes, Gasterosteus aculeatus and Takifugu rubripes. A peculiar characteristic of N. furzeri as compared to other teleosts was a duplication of the miR-29 cluster.Conclusion: The completeness of the catalogue we provide is comparable to that of zebrafish. This catalogue represents a basis to investigate the role of miRNAs in aging and development in this species.Availability: All supplementary material can be found online at http://www.rna.uni-jena.de/en/supplements/nothobranchius-furzeri-mirnome/.


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