A clockwork fish. Age-prediction using DNA methylation-based biomarkers in the European seabass

Age-related changes in DNA methylation do occur. Taking advantage of this, mammalian and avian epigenetic clocks have been constructed to predict age. In fish, studies on age-related DNA methylation changes are scarce and no epigenetic clocks are available. However, in fisheries and population studies there is a need for accurate estimation of age, something that is often impossible for some economically important species with the currently available methods. Here, we used the European sea bass, a marine fish where age can be known with accuracy, to construct a piscine epigenetic clock, the first one in a cold-blooded vertebrate. We used targeted bisulfite sequencing to amplify 48 CpGs from four genes in muscle samples and applied penalized regressions to predict age. We, thus, developed an age predictor in fish that is highly accurate (0.824) and precise (2.149 years of error). In juvenile fish, accelerated growth due to elevated temperatures had no effect in age prediction, indicating...