Telomere length reflects phenotypic quality and costs of reproduction in a long-lived seabird
Telomere length reflects phenotypic quality and costs of reproduction in a long-lived seabird
复制标题
DOI：
10.1098/rspb.2012.2540
复制
发表时间：
2013-02-07
影响因子：
4.7
通讯作者：
Verhulst, Simon
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Bauch, Christina;Becker, Peter H.;Verhulst, Simon
端粒长度与细胞衰老、生活方式和衰老有关。短端粒表明人类健康状况不佳，几种鸟类的预期寿命缩短，但对野生动物中端粒与表型质量的关系知之甚少。我们研究了已知年龄普通燕鸥（Sterna hirundo）（一种迁徙海鸟）红细胞端粒长度与抵达日期和繁殖性能的关系。横截面数据显示，与年龄无关，端粒短的个体表现更好：他们在季节中更早到达并繁殖，并且在巢中有更多的小鸡。后者的影响是更强的老育雏和更强的男性，这做了大部分的小鸡供应。纵向数据证实了这一模式：与失去育雏的鸟类相比，在第10个雏鸟日之后抚养雏鸟的鸟类从一年到下一年经历了更高的端粒磨损。然而，更详细的分析显示，与中等成功的鸟类相比，最少和最成功的个体丢失的碱基对最少。我们的研究结果表明，繁殖成功是以牺牲端粒为代价的，但个体对这种不利影响的易感性异质性是重要的，正如最成功的鸟类中端粒损失较低所表明的那样。
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. Cross-sectional 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.