Our new preprint: "Epigenomic insights into extreme longevity in the world’s oldest terrestrial animal, Jonathan".
Jonathan is estimated to be at least 192 years old - the oldest known terrestrial animal. In this study we examine his genome and epigenome and found changes that may help explain his extreme longevity.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.05.636284v1.full
Epigenomic insights into extreme longevity in the world’s oldest terrestrial animal, Jonathan
Giant tortoises exhibit exceptional longevity, often exceeding the human lifespan. To understand the genomic and epigenomic basis of their longevity, awe analyzed the DNA sequence and methylome of Jonathan, an Aldabra giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea), estimated to be 192 years old. Relative to other giant tortoises (Aldabrachelys gigantea and Chelonoidis abingdonii), we found Jonathan has gene variants in pathways associated with aging, including DNA repair and telomere regulation. Consistent with his advanced age, Jonathan has significant age-related changes in DNA methylation and methylation entropy, compared with a 5-year-old Aldabra individual. Notably, we found that low entropy regions in Jonathan’s methylome were enriched for genes involved in the electron transport chain. This suggests that high-fidelity transcription of these genes may be crucial for extreme longevity. With this data, we propose a model for aging, that links efficient mitochondrial energy production with nuclear maintenance of low methylation entropy. ### Competing Interest Statement The Regents of the University of California are the sole owner of patents and patent applications directed at epigenetic biomarkers for which Steve Horvath is a named inventor; SH is a founder and paid consultant of the non-profit Epigenetic Clock Development Foundation that licenses these patents. SH is a Principal Investigator at the Altos Labs, Cambridge Institute of Science. The other authors declare no competing interests.
