Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Genome Research, 11-12(32), p. 2003-2014, 2022
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Aging is associated with changes in a variety of biological processes at the transcriptomic level, including gene expression. Two types of aging occur during a lifetime: chronological and physiological aging. However, dissecting the difference between chronological and physiological ages at the transcriptomic level has been a challenge because of its complexity. We analyzed the transcriptomic features associated with physiological and chronological aging usingCaenorhabditis elegansas a model. Many structural and functional transcript elements, such as noncoding RNAs and intron-derived transcripts, were up-regulated with chronological aging. In contrast, mRNAs with many biological functions, including RNA processing, were down-regulated with physiological aging. We also identified an age-dependent increase in the usage of distal 3′ splice sites in mRNA transcripts as a biomarker of physiological aging. Our study provides crucial information for dissecting chronological and physiological aging at the transcriptomic level.