Comparative genomics of mortal and immortal cnidarians unveils novel keys behind rejuvenation

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2118763119
• Publication Date: 2022-08-29T19:13:40Z
• Authors: Maria Pascual-Torner; Dido Carrero; José G. Pérez-Silva; Diana Álvarez-Puente; David Roiz-Valle; Gabriel Bretones; David Rodríguez; Daniel Maeso; Elena Mateo-González; Yaiza Español; Guillermo Mariño; José Luis Acuña; Víctor Quesada; Carlos López-Otín
• Keywords: Transcription; Rejuvenation; Replication timing

Turritopsis dohrnii is the only metazoan able to rejuvenate repeatedly after its medusae reproduce, hinting at biological immortality and challenging our understanding of aging. We present compare whole-genome assemblies T. nonimmortal rubra using automatic manual annotations, together with transcriptome life cycle reversal (LCR) process dohrnii. have identified variants expansions genes associated replication, DNA repair, telomere maintenance, redox environment, stem cell population, intercellular communication. Moreover, we found silencing polycomb repressive complex 2 targets activation pluripotency during LCR, which points these transcription factors as inducers in . Accordingly, propose key elements ability undergo rejuvenation.