Ontogeny of leukocyte profiles in a wild altricial passerine

Muriel, Jaime; Vida, Carmen; Gil, Diego; Pérez‐Rodríguez, Lorenzo

doi:10.1007/s00360-020-01323-z

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 81 publications

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“…However, alternative mechanisms can manifest as pseudolengthening (Epel, 2012), including turnover of existing cells by longer-telomere counterparts or changes in cell composition with age (Beaulieu et al, 2017;Montes et al, 2003;but see Watson et al, 2017). In birds, whole blood is dominated by nucleated red blood cells that turn over every ~9 days (Muriel et al, 2020), and telomere attrition has occurred within a similar timeframe in other species (Nettle et al, 2015;Stier et al, 2016), suggesting that production of longer telomere blood cells is plausible and may co-occur with lower levels of POT1 mRNA. Changes in interstitial telomeres may also appear as elongation, although repeated measures designs like ours minimize these effects (Foote et al, 2013).…”

Section: Pot1 Gene Expression Predicts Responses To Acute Stress In Cmentioning

confidence: 97%

The telomere regulatory gene POT1 responds to stress and predicts performance in nature: implications for telomeres and life history evolution

Wolf

Sanders

Beltran

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Long telomeres have become nearly synonymous with a variety of fitness-related traits and may be mediators of ecologically relevant variation in life history strategies. Growing evidence suggests that telomere dynamics are more predictive of performance than length itself, but very little work considers how telomere regulatory mechanisms respond to environmental challenges or influence performance in nature. Here, we combine observational and experimental datasets from free-living tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) to assess how performance is predicted by the telomere regulatory gene POT1, which encodes a shelterin protein that sterically blocks telomerase from repairing the telomere. First, we show that lower POT1 gene expression was associated with higher female quality, i.e. earlier breeding, and heavier body mass. We next challenged mothers with an immune stressor (lipopolysaccharide injection) that led to ‘sickness’ in mothers and 24h of food restriction in their offspring. While POT1 did not respond to maternal injection, females with lower constitutive gene expression were better able to maintain feeding rates following treatment. Maternal injection also generated a one-day stressor for chicks, who responded with decreased POT1 gene expression and elongated telomeres. Other putatively stress-responsive mechanisms (i.e. glucocorticoids, antioxidants) were not significantly different between control and stress-exposed chicks. Model comparisons indicated that POT1 mRNA abundance was a largely better predictor of performance than telomere dynamics, indicating that telomere regulators may be powerful modulators of variation in life history strategies.

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Section: Pot1 Gene Expression Predicts Responses To Acute Stress In Cmentioning

confidence: 97%

The telomere regulatory gene POT1 responds to stress and predicts performance in nature: implications for telomeres and life history evolution

Wolf

Sanders

Beltran

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Alternative mechanisms may also manifest as pseudo-lengthening (Epel, 2012), including turnover of existing cells by longer-telomere counterparts or changes in cell composition with age (Beaulieu et al, 2017;Montes et al, 2003;but see Watson et al, 2017). In birds, whole blood is dominated by nucleated red blood cells that turn over every ~9 days (Muriel et al, 2020) TA B L E 4 Univariate models assessing predictors of survival-related outcomes in nestling tree swallows: (a) survival to fledging and (b) recruitment into the breeding population species (Nettle et al, 2015;Stier et al, 2016), suggesting that production of longer telomere blood cells is plausible and may co-occur with lower levels of POT1 mRNA. Changes in interstitial telomeres may also appear as elongation, although repeated measures designs like ours minimize these effects (Foote et al, 2013).…”

Section: Phenotypic Effects Of Acute Stress In Chicksmentioning

confidence: 99%

The telomere regulatory gene POT1 responds to stress and predicts performance in nature: Implications for telomeres and life history evolution

et al. 2021

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Telomeres are emerging as correlates of fitness‐related traits and may be important mediators of ecologically relevant variation in life history strategies. Growing evidence suggests that telomere dynamics can be more predictive of performance than length itself, but very little work considers how telomere regulatory mechanisms respond to environmental challenges or influence performance in nature. Here, we combine observational and experimental data sets from free‐living tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) to assess how performance is predicted by the telomere regulatory gene POT1, which encodes a shelterin protein that sterically blocks telomerase from repairing the telomere. First, we show that lower POT1 gene expression in the blood was associated with higher female quality, that is, earlier breeding and heavier body mass. We next challenged mothers with an immune stressor (lipopolysaccharide injection) that led to “sickness” in mothers and 24 h of food restriction in their offspring. While POT1 did not respond to maternal injection, females with lower constitutive POT1 gene expression were better able to maintain feeding rates following treatment. Maternal injection also generated a 1‐day stressor for chicks, which responded with lower POT1 gene expression and elongated telomeres. Other putatively stress‐responsive mechanisms (i.e., glucocorticoids, antioxidants) showed marginal responses in stress‐exposed chicks. Model comparisons indicated that POT1 mRNA abundance was a largely better predictor of performance than telomere dynamics, indicating that telomere regulators may be powerful modulators of variation in life history strategies.

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“…Another nonexclusive explanation is that nestlings do not have a fully developed immune system capable of selecting for specific microorganisms during early development. Supporting this hypothesis, some components of adaptive and innate immunity are immature in nestlings of several bird species, even close to fledging [ 52 , 108 – 110 ]. For example, adaptive immunity is not fully mature in zebra finches at least until 21 dph [ 51 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Timing matters: age-dependent impacts of the social environment and host selection on the avian gut microbiota

Maraci

Antonatou-Papaioannou

Jünemann

et al. 2022

Microbiome

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Background The establishment of the gut microbiota in early life is a critical process that influences the development and fitness of vertebrates. However, the relative influence of transmission from the early social environment and host selection throughout host ontogeny remains understudied, particularly in avian species. We conducted conspecific and heterospecific cross-fostering experiments in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) and Bengalese finches (Lonchura striata domestica) under controlled conditions and repeatedly sampled the faecal microbiota of these birds over the first 3 months of life. We thus documented the development of the gut microbiota and characterised the relative impacts of the early social environment and host selection due to species-specific characteristics and individual genetic backgrounds across ontogeny by using 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing. Results The taxonomic composition and community structure of the gut microbiota changed across ontogenetic stages; juvenile zebra finches exhibited higher alpha diversity than adults at the post-breeding stage. Furthermore, in early development, the microbial communities of juveniles raised by conspecific and heterospecific foster parents resembled those of their foster family, emphasising the importance of the social environment. In later stages, the social environment continued to influence the gut microbiota, but host selection increased in importance. Conclusions We provided a baseline description of the developmental succession of gut microbiota in zebra finches and Bengalese finches, which is a necessary first step for understanding the impact of the early gut microbiota on host fitness. Furthermore, for the first time in avian species, we showed that the relative strengths of the two forces that shape the establishment and maintenance of the gut microbiota (i.e. host selection and dispersal from the social environment) change during development, with host selection increasing in importance. This finding should be considered when experimentally manipulating the early-life gut microbiota. Our findings also provide new insights into the mechanisms of host selection.

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Ontogeny of leukocyte profiles in a wild altricial passerine

Cited by 9 publications

References 81 publications

The telomere regulatory gene POT1 responds to stress and predicts performance in nature: implications for telomeres and life history evolution

The telomere regulatory gene POT1 responds to stress and predicts performance in nature: implications for telomeres and life history evolution

The telomere regulatory gene POT1 responds to stress and predicts performance in nature: Implications for telomeres and life history evolution

Timing matters: age-dependent impacts of the social environment and host selection on the avian gut microbiota

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