An epigenetic clock to estimate the age of living beluga whales.

ABSTRACT: DNA methylation data facilitate the development of accurate molecular estimators of chronological age or "epigenetic clocks." We present a robust epigenetic clock for the beluga whale, Delphinapterus leucas, developed for an endangered population in Cook Inlet, Alaska, USA. We used a custom methylation array to measure methylation levels at 37,491 cytosine-guanine sites (CpGs) from skin samples of dead whales (n = 67) whose chronological ages were estimated based on tooth growth layer groups. Using these calibration data, a penalized regression model selected 23 CpGs, providing an R ² = 0.92 for the training data; and an R ² = 0.74 and median absolute age error = 2.9 years for the leave one out cross-validation. We applied the epigenetic cl

SUBMITTER: Bors EK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8127720 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature