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Multi-species and multi-tissue methylation clocks for age estimation in toothed whales and dolphins

Todd R. Robeck, Zhe Fei, Ake T. Lu, Amin Haghani, Eve Jourdain, Joseph A. Zoller, Caesar Z. Li, Karen J. Steinman, Stacy DiRocco, Todd L. Schmitt, Steve Osborn, Bill Van Bonn, Etsuko Katsumata, June Mergl, Javier Almunia

Communications Biology · 2021 · ▲ 71 citations

Epigenetic alterations

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Abstract

The development of a precise blood or skin tissue DNA Epigenetic Aging Clock for Odontocete (OEAC) would solve current age estimation inaccuracies for wild odontocetes. Therefore, we determined genome-wide DNA methylation profiles using a custom array (HorvathMammalMethyl40) across skin and blood samples (n = 446) from known age animals representing nine odontocete species within 4 phylogenetic families to identify age associated CG dinucleotides (CpGs). The top CpGs were used to create a cross-validated OEAC clock which was highly correlated for individuals (r = 0.94) and for unique species (median r = 0.93). Finally, we applied the OEAC for estimating the age and sex of 22 wild Norwegian killer whales. DNA methylation patterns of age associated CpGs are highly conserved across odontocetes. These similarities allowed us to develop an odontocete epigenetic aging clock (OEAC) which can be used for species conservation efforts by provide a mechanism for estimating the age of free ranging odontocetes from either blood or skin samples.

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Provenance

Source: OpenAlex
DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02179-x
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Fetched: 2026-07-22 MST

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APA

Robeck, T.R., Fei, Z., Lu, A.T., Haghani, A., Jourdain, E., Zoller, J.A., Li, C.Z., Steinman, K.J., DiRocco, S., Schmitt, T.L., Osborn, S., Bonn, B.V., Katsumata, E., Mergl, J., Almunia, J., Rodríguez, M., Haulena, M., Dold, C., & Horvath, S. (2021). Multi-species and multi-tissue methylation clocks for age estimation in toothed whales and dolphins. <em>Communications Biology</em>. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-02179-x

Vancouver

Robeck TR, Fei Z, Lu AT, Haghani A, Jourdain E, Zoller JA, et al. Multi-species and multi-tissue methylation clocks for age estimation in toothed whales and dolphins. Communications Biology. 2021. doi:10.1038/s42003-021-02179-x.

BibTeX

@article{todd2021Multis, title = {Multi-species and multi-tissue methylation clocks for age estimation in toothed whales and dolphins}, author = {Todd R. Robeck and Zhe Fei and Ake T. Lu and Amin Haghani and Eve Jourdain and Joseph A. Zoller and Caesar Z. Li and Karen J. Steinman and Stacy DiRocco and Todd L. Schmitt and Steve Osborn and Bill Van Bonn and Etsuko Katsumata and June Mergl and Javier Almunia and Magdalena Rodríguez and Martin Haulena and Christopher Dold and Steve Horvath}, journal = {Communications Biology}, year = {2021}, doi = {10.1038/s42003-021-02179-x}, }