Sexual differences in telomere selection in the wild

Olsson, Mats; Pauliny, Angela; Wapstra, Erik; Uller, Tobias; Schwartz, Tonia S.; Miller, Emily; Blomqvist, Donald

doi:10.1111/j.1365-294x.2011.05085.x

Cited by 56 publications

(99 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…some penguins). Furthermore, sex-specific telomere loss rates have not been found in other monomorphic avian species with equal or female-biased parental care [15,27]. A phylogenetically-controlled inter-species comparison is needed to determine if the care-giving gender is longer-lived than the other and whether this trait is adaptive.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Age, Sex, and Telomere Dynamics in a Long-Lived Seabird with Male-Biased Parental Care

et al. 2013

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The examination of telomere dynamics is a recent technique in ecology for assessing physiological state and age-related traits from individuals of unknown age. Telomeres shorten with age in most species and are expected to reflect physiological state, reproductive investment, and chronological age. Loss of telomere length is used as an indicator of biological aging, as this detrimental deterioration is associated with lowered survival. Lifespan dimorphism and more rapid senescence in the larger, shorter-lived sex are predicted in species with sexual size dimorphism, however, little is known about the effects of behavioral dimorphism on senescence and life history traits in species with sexual monomorphism. Here we compare telomere dynamics of thick-billed murres ( Uria lomvia ), a species with male-biased parental care, in two ways: 1) cross-sectionally in birds of known-age (0-28 years) from one colony and 2) longitudinally in birds from four colonies. Telomere dynamics are compared using three measures: the telomere restriction fragment (TRF), a lower window of TRF (TOE), and qPCR. All showed age-related shortening of telomeres, but the TRF measure also indicated that adult female murres have shorter telomere length than adult males, consistent with sex-specific patterns of ageing. Adult males had longer telomeres than adult females on all colonies examined, but chick telomere length did not differ by sex. Additionally, inter-annual telomere changes may be related to environmental conditions; birds from a potentially low quality colony lost telomeres, while those at more hospitable colonies maintained telomere length. We conclude that sex-specific patterns of telomere loss exist in the sexually monomorphic thick-billed murre but are likely to occur between fledging and recruitment. Longer telomeres in males may be related to their homogamous sex chromosomes (ZZ) or to selection for longer life in the care-giving sex. Environmental conditions appeared to be the primary drivers of annual changes in adult birds.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sex-specific TL is documented in many taxa [15,16], but often in species with female-biased parental care and large sexual dimorphism in body size. When neonates do not differ in TL, such differences may be related to level of parental investment or developmental rates [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age, Sex, and Telomere Dynamics in a Long-Lived Seabird with Male-Biased Parental Care

et al. 2013

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“…lizards [31]. We interpret this finding as reflecting heterogeneity in individual quality, a phenomenon observed in many species [58][59][60], including common terns [34,44,61].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Pauliny et al [16] found a positive relationship between residual telomere length and lifetime reproductive success (number of recruiting progeny) in male dunlins (Calidris alpina) (note, however, that they analysed gels using a computer program now known to be flawed [30]). In sand lizards (Lacerta agilis), female telomere length showed a positive relation with number of hatchlings, but a quadratic relationship with produced recruits in that individuals with intermediate telomere length were least successful [31].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Telomere length reflects phenotypic quality and costs of reproduction in a long-lived seabird

2013

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Telomere length is associated with cellular senescence, lifestyle and ageing. Short telomeres indicate poor health in humans and reduced life expectancy in several bird species, but little is known about telomeres in relation to phenotypic quality in wild animals. We investigated telomere lengths in erythrocytes of known-age common terns (Sterna hirundo), a migratory seabird, in relation to arrival date and reproductive performance. Crosssectional data revealed that, independent of age, individuals with short telomeres performed better: they arrived and reproduced earlier in the season and had more chicks in the nest. The latter effect was stronger the older the brood and stronger in males, which do most of the chick provisioning. Longitudinal data confirmed this pattern: compared with birds that lost their brood, birds that raised chicks beyond the 10th nestling day experienced higher telomere attrition from one year to the next. However, more detailed analysis revealed that the least and most successful individuals lost the fewest base pairs compared with birds with intermediate success.Our results suggest that reproductive success is achieved at the expense of telomeres, but that individual heterogeneity in susceptibility to such detrimental effects is important, as indicated by low telomere loss in the most successful birds.

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“…Telomere length appears to have a substantial heritable component in many species [14,41,42]. As a state variable, telomeres may further fill the requirements of positive statebehaviour feedback loops required in state-dependent models of personality behaviour if state variables are not inherently stable [2,4].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Telomere length covaries with personality in wild brown trout

Adriaenssens

Pauliny

Blomqvist

et al. 2016

Physiology & Behavior

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The prevalence of consistent among-individual differences in behaviour, or personality, makes adaptive sense if individuals differ in stable state variables that shift the balance between the costs and benefits of their behavioural decisions. These differences may give rise to both individual differences in, and covariance amongst, behaviours that influence an individual's exposure to risks. We here study the link between behaviour and a candidate state variable previously overlooked in the study of state-dependent personality variation:telomere length. Telomeres are the protective endcaps of chromosomes and their erosion with age is thought to play a crucial role in regulating organismal senescence and intrinsic lifespan. Following evidence that shorter telomeres may reduce the lifespan of animals in a wide range of taxa, we predict individuals with shorter telomeres to behave more boldly and aggressively. In order to test this, we measured telomere length and behaviour in wild juvenile brown trout (Salmo trutta). We found individuals with shorter fin telomeres to behave consistently more boldly and aggressively under controlled conditions in the laboratory. No such relationship was found with muscle telomere length 3-4 months after the behavioural assays. We suggest that telomere dynamics are an important factor integrating personality traits with other state variables thought to be important in the regulation of behaviour, such as metabolism, disease resistance and growth.

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Sexual differences in telomere selection in the wild

Cited by 56 publications

References 56 publications

Age, Sex, and Telomere Dynamics in a Long-Lived Seabird with Male-Biased Parental Care

Age, Sex, and Telomere Dynamics in a Long-Lived Seabird with Male-Biased Parental Care

Telomere length reflects phenotypic quality and costs of reproduction in a long-lived seabird

Telomere length covaries with personality in wild brown trout

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