Abstract
Hundreds of genes have been identified as being involved in the control of lifespan in the four common model organisms (yeast, worm, fruit fly and mouse). A major challenge is to determine if longevity-associated genes (LAGs) are model-specific or may play a universal role as longevity regulators across diverse taxa. A wide-scale comparative analysis of the 1,805 known LAGs across 205 species revealed that (i) LAG orthologs are substantially over-represented, from bacteria to mammals, especially noted for essential LAGs; (ii) the effects on lifespan, when manipulating orthologous LAGs in different model organisms, were mostly concordant, despite of a high evolutionary distance between them; (iii) the most conserved LAGs were enriched in translational processes, energy metabolism, development, and DNA repair. The least conserved LAGs were enriched in autophagy (Fungi), G-proteins (Nematodes), and neuroactive ligand-receptor interactions (Chordata). The results also suggest that antagonistic pleiotropy is a conserved principle of aging.