Laboratory breeding of the short-lived annual killifish Nothobranchius furzeri as model object for ageing investigation

Developers

Matej Polačik, Radim Blažek, Martin Reichard.

Description of the technology

Turquoise killifish, Nothobranchius furzeri, is a species of aplocheilid fish (Aplocheilidae). It has an intrinsically short life span, with a median life span of <6 months and a maximum (90%) life span of 9 months. This short life span is unique among vertebrates. It evolved naturally and has resulted in N. furzeri becoming a widely used laboratory model species in aging research and other disciplines.

The technology proposes a protocol for the maintenance and breeding of the species under laboratory conditions. The protocol describes details for egg incubation, hatching, everyday care of juvenile and adult fish, breeding and treatment of most common diseases. Emphasis is given to the fact that the requirements of N. furzeri substantially differ from those of other fish model taxa; N. furzeri live brief lives and in nature undergo nonaquatic embryo development, with consequences for their laboratory culture. Eggs are incubated in a damp environment (and can be easily shipped at this stage) and synchronized hatching of experimental cohorts can be achieved when the eggs are wetted. Upon hatching, maturity is reached in <3 weeks.

Practical application

The technology provides a use of N. furzeri in aging research. This model object was successfully used for this aim in past periods (70-80s). Historically, it was the first vertebrate model to demonstrate that resveratrol (a natural antioxidant) may extend life span and retard the expression of age-related markers. Further studies showed that N. furzeri aging is also decelerated by lower ambient temperature and dietary restriction. Now a renewed interest to scientific use of this object is explained by recent works about the extremely short natural life span of N. furzeri and new protocols of its breeding (such as the present one).

Other applications that used laboratory breeding of N. furzeri include description of histopathologies of occurrence of tumors, demonstration of aging-related telomere shortening despite high telomerase activity, aging-related impairment of mitochondrial function, age-dependent decline in adult neurogenesis, temporal pattern of microRNA expression, mapping of quantitative trait loci controlling life span and regenerative capacity. Comparative studies of aging were also performed among N. furzeri lab strains and among N. furzeri and related species.

Thus, renewal use of N. furzeri for ageing studies could be very promising.

Laboratories

• Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno (Czech Republic)

Links

Publications

• Polačik, M. et al. «Laboratory breeding of the short-lived annual killifish Nothobranchius furzeri." 11 Nature Protocols, (2016): 1396–1413.
• Cellerino, A., Valenzano, D.R. & Reichard, M. «From the bush to the bench: the annual Nothobranchius fishes as a new model system in biology." 91 Biol. Rev. (2016): 511–533.
• Blažek, R., Polačik, M. & Reichard, M. «Rapid growth, early maturation and short generation time in African annual fishes." 4 EvoDevo, (2013): 24.