Parental age does not influence offspring telomeres during early life in common gulls (Larus canus)

Abstract

Parental age can affect offspring telomere length through heritable and epigenetic-like effects, but at what stage during development these effects are established is not well known. To address this, we conducted a cross-fostering experiment in common gulls (Larus canus) that enabled us distinguish between pre-and post-natal parental age effects on offspring telomere length. Whole clutches were exchanged after clutch completion within and between parental age classes (young and old) and blood samples were collected from chicks at hatching and during the fastest growth phase (11 days later) to measure telomeres. Neither the ages of the natal nor the foster parents' predicted the telomere length or the change in telomere lengths of their chicks. Telomere length was repeatable within chicks, but increased across development (repeatability = 0.55, Intraclass Correlation Coefficient within sampling events 0.934). Telomere length and the change in telomere length were not predicted by post-natal growth rate. Taken together, these findings suggest that in common gulls, telomere length during early in life is not influenced by parental age or growth rate, which may indicate that protective mechanisms buffer telomeres from external conditions during development in this relatively long-lived species.

Warmer incubation temperatures and later lay‐orders lead to shorter telomere lengths in wood duck (Aix sponsa) ducklings

“…For example, telomere length increased between 0.5 and 3 months of age in house sparrows Passer domesticus (Bennett et al, 2021), between Days 15 and 30 in Magellanic penguins Spheniscus magellanicus (Cerchiara et al, 2017), and across larval ontology in the common frog Rana temporaria (Burraco et al, 2020). Further, telomeres lengthened in common gulls ( Larus canus ) during the first 11 days of life and, similar to our study, were not significantly correlated with growth rate during this time period (Sepp et al, 2020). This increase in telomere length could be linked to increased telomerase expression, which could be particularly important during early development, where rapid growth and many cell divisions occur.…”

Parental age does not influence offspring telomeres during early life in common gulls (Larus canus)

“…Power analyses were conducted based on Monte Carlo simulations (Green & MacLeod, 2015) (Table ). The R code for the statistical analyses is accessible in the data repository (Sepp et al, 2021a).…”

“…Data are available from the Dryad Digital Repository (Sepp et al, 2021b, https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2ngf1vhn5).…”

Integrating telomere biology into the ecology and evolution of natural populations: Progress and prospects

“…However, at the same time in years in which they gave birth, the mother's telomeres were longer when their lambs survived to August, compared with years when they lost their lambs earlier, suggesting complex state dependent effects. Sepp et al (2021) conducted a cross‐fostering experiment in common gulls ( Larus canus ), to tease apart pre‐ and post‐natal parental age effects on offspring telomere length. Neither the age of the natal‐ nor the foster parents in this study predicted the length or rate of change of telomeres in chicks.…”