Environmental Control and Control of the Environment: The Basis of Longevity in Bivalves

Abstract

Longevity and ageing are two sides of a coin, leaving the question open as to which one is the cause and which one the effect. At the individual level, the physiological rate of ageing determines the length of life (= individual longevity, as long as death results from old age and not from disease or other impacts). Individual longevity depends on the direct influence of environmental conditions with respect to nutrition, and the possibility for and timing of reproduction, as well as on the energetic costs animals invest in behavioural and physiological stress defence. All these environmental effectors influence hormonal and cellular signalling pathways that modify the individual physiological condition, the reproductive strategy, and the rate of ageing. At the species level, longevity (= maximum lifespan) is the result of an evolutionary process and, thus, largely determined by the species' behavioural and physiological adaptations to its ecological niche. Specifically, reproductive and breeding strategies have to be optimized in relation to local environmental conditions in different habitats. As a result of adaptive and evolutionary processes, species longevity is genetically underpinned, not necessarily by a few ageing genes, but by an evolutionary process that has hierarchically shaped and optimized species genomes to function in a specific niche or environmental system. Importantly, investigations and reviews attempting to unravel the mechanistic basis of the ageing process need to differentiate clearly between the evolutionary process shaping longevity at the species level and the regulatory mechanisms that alter the individual rate of ageing.

A Distinct Mitochondrial Genome with DUI-Like Inheritance in the Ocean QuahogArctica islandica

“…Arctica islandica (Linnaeus 1767) belongs to the Heterodonta, order Veneroida and is the sole living representative of the Arcticidae family ( Morton 2011 ). This species, known as the longest-lived non colonial species with a maximum reported life span of 507 years, is of great interest for studies of aging in marine non model species ( Strahl and Abele 2010 ; Morton 2011 ; Strahl et al 2011 ; Abele and Philipp 2013 ; Gruber et al 2015 ). The different populations are widely distributed in the Northern hemisphere (from east coast of North America to the European North Atlantic around Iceland, north of Norway and into the White Sea).…”

Age- and sex-dependent changes in morphometric and metabolic variables in the long-lived freshwater mussel Diplodon chilensis

“…On the other hand, the late onset of reproductive activity reported for the longest-lived bivalve, A. islandica (10-32 years) has been highlighted as a feature related to longevity (Haag and Staton 2003;Abele and Philipp 2013). Among long-lived freshwater mussels, the reproductive onset reported for Scottish populations of M. margaritifera (maximum age: 48-123 years) is between 12 and 13 years old Williams 1984a, 1984b).…”

“…According to theories of cellular aging by free radicals, the effects of ROS on cellular components are directly related to aging and there is an inverse relationship between ROS production and Maximum Life Span Potential (MLSP) (Pearl 1928;Harman 1956;Bodnar 2009;Buttemer et al 2010). In recent years, the bivalve mollusc model has been proposed as a novel approach for aging studies (Bodnar 2009;Philipp and Abele 2010;Abele and Philipp 2013). The diversity of species, lifestyles and life expectancy are reasons for choosing bivalves for aging studies.…”

DNA Methylation in NFATC1 Gene Promoter is Related to Longevity in Chinese Population

“…Human lifespan is the outcome of complex interactions of environmental exposures, personal lifestyles and behaviors, and multiple genetic factors [1][2][3]. A number of longevity-related gene variants have been identified by genome-wide association studies during the past decade [4,5].…”