title: Insights into Sex Chromosome Evolution and Aging from the Genome of a Short-Lived Fish.
abstract: The killifish Nothobranchius furzeri is the shortest-lived vertebrate that can be bred in the laboratory. Its rapid growth, early sexual maturation, fast aging, and arrested embryonic development (diapause) make it an attractive model organism in biomedical research. Here, we report a draft sequence of its genome that allowed us to uncover an intra-species Y chromosome polymorphism representing-in real time-different stages of sex chromosome formation that display features of early mammalian XY evolution "in action." Our data suggest that gdf6Y, encoding a TGF-β family growth factor, is the master sex-determining gene in N. furzeri. Moreover, we observed genomic clustering of aging-related genes, identified genes under positive selection, and revealed significant similarities of gene expression profiles between diapause and aging, particularly for genes controlling cell cycle and translation. The annotated genome sequence is provided as an online resource (http://www.nothobranchius.info/NFINgb).
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute on Aging-Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena 07745, Germany.
authors.forename: Kathrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Reichwald
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute on Aging-Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena 07745, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Petzold
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute on Aging-Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena 07745, Germany.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute on Aging-Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena 07745, Germany.
authors.forename: Bryan R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Downie
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute on Aging-Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena 07745, Germany.
authors.forename: Nils
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hartmann
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute on Aging-Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena 07745, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pietsch
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute on Aging-Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena 07745, Germany.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baumgart
authors.affiliation: Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS UMR5242, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 69364 Lyon Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Domitille
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chalopin
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute on Aging-Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena 07745, Germany.
authors.forename: Marius
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Felder
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute on Aging-Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena 07745, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bens
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute on Aging-Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena 07745, Germany.
authors.forename: Arne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sahm
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute on Aging-Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena 07745, Germany.
authors.forename: Karol
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Szafranski
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute on Aging-Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena 07745, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Taudien
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute on Aging-Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena 07745, Germany.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Groth
authors.affiliation: Genomics Facility, European Brain Research Institute (EBRI) Rita Levi-Montalcini, Rome 00143, Italy.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Arisi
authors.affiliation: Jena University Hospital, Institute of Human Genetics, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena 07743, Germany.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weise
authors.affiliation: Jena University Hospital, Institute of Human Genetics, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena 07743, Germany.
authors.forename: Samarth S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Bhatt
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden 01307, Germany; Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden 01307, Germany.
authors.forename: Virag
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Medical Systems Biology, Ulm University, Ulm 89069, Germany.
authors.forename: Johann M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kraus
authors.affiliation: Medical Systems Biology, Ulm University, Ulm 89069, Germany; International Graduate School in Molecular Medicine at Ulm University (GSC270), Ulm 89069, Germany.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schmid
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology-Hans-Knoell-Institute (HKI), Jena 07745, Germany.
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Priebe
authors.affiliation: Jena University Hospital, Institute of Human Genetics, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena 07743, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Liehr
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute on Aging-Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena 07745, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Görlach
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute on Aging-Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena 07745, Germany.
authors.forename: Manuel E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Than
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden 01307, Germany; Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden 01307, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hiller
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute on Aging-Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena 07745, Germany; Medical Systems Biology, Ulm University, Ulm 89069, Germany; Faculty of Biology and Pharmacy, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena 07743, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Kestler
authors.affiliation: Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS UMR5242, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 69364 Lyon Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Nicolas
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Volff
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiological Chemistry, Biocenter, University of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg 97074, Germany; Comprehensive Cancer Center Mainfranken, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg 97074, Germany.
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schartl
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute on Aging-Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena 07745, Germany; Laboratory of Biology, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa 56126, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cellerino
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute on Aging-Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena 07745, Germany; Faculty of Biology and Pharmacy, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena 07743, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Englert
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute on Aging-Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena 07745, Germany. Electronic address: matthias.platzer@leibniz-fli.de.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Platzer
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005260:Female; D016678:Genome; D007695:Killifishes / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012730:Sex Chromosomes; D019849:Sex Determination Processes