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Colominas-Ciuró R, Gray FE, Arikan K, Zahn S, Meier C, Criscuolo F, Bize P. Effects of persistent organic pollutants on telomere dynamics are sex and age-specific in a wild long-lived bird. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 943:173785. [PMID: 38851349 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173785] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2024] [Revised: 06/02/2024] [Accepted: 06/03/2024] [Indexed: 06/10/2024]
Abstract
Chemical pollution is a major man-made environmental threat to ecosystems and natural animal populations. Of concern are persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which can persist in the environment for many years. While bioaccumulating throughout the lives of wild animals, POPs can affect their health, reproduction, and survival. However, measuring long-term effects of POPs in wild populations is challenging, and therefore appropriate biomarkers are required in wildlife ecotoxicology. One potential target is telomere length, since telomere preservation has been associated to survival and longevity, and stressors as chemical pollution can disrupt its maintenance. Here, we investigated the effects of different classes of POPs on relative telomere length (RTL) and its rate of change (TROC) in wild long-lived Alpine swifts (Tachymarptis melba). As both RTL and TROC are often reported to differ between sexes and with chronological age, we tested for sex- and age-specific (pre-senescent vs. senescent, ≥ 9 age of years, individuals) effects of POPs. Our results showed that senescent females presented longer RTL and elongated telomeres over time compared to pre-senescent females and males. These sex- and age-related differences in RTL and TROC were influenced by POPs, but differently depending on whether they were organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) or industrial polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). OCPs (particularly drins) were negatively associated with RTL, with the strongest negative effects being found in senescent females. Conversely, PCBs led to slower rates of telomere shortening, especially in females. Our study indicates diametrically opposed effects of OCPs on RTL and PCBs on TROC, and these effects were more pronounced in females and senescent individuals. The mechanisms behind these effects (e.g., increased oxidative stress by OCPs; upregulation of telomerase activity by PCBs) remain unknown. Our results highlight the importance in wildlife ecotoxicology to account for sex- and age-related effects when investigating the health effects of pollutants on biomarkers such as telomeres.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Kalender Arikan
- Department of Biology Education, Faculty of Education, Hacettepe University, Turkey
| | - Sandrine Zahn
- Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, France
| | | | | | - Pierre Bize
- Swiss Ornithological Institute, Switzerland.
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Vitikainen EIK, Meniri M, Marshall HH, Thompson FJ, Businge R, Mwanguhya F, Kyabulima S, Mwesige K, Ahabonya S, Sanderson JL, Kalema-Zikusoka G, Hoffman JI, Wells D, Lewis G, Walker SL, Nichols HJ, Blount JD, Cant MA. The social formation of fitness: lifetime consequences of prenatal nutrition and postnatal care in a wild mammal population. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20220309. [PMID: 37381858 PMCID: PMC10291432 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2023] [Accepted: 04/19/2023] [Indexed: 06/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Research in medicine and evolutionary biology suggests that the sequencing of parental investment has a crucial impact on offspring life history and health. Here, we take advantage of the synchronous birth system of wild banded mongooses to test experimentally the lifetime consequences to offspring of receiving extra investment prenatally versus postnatally. We provided extra food to half of the breeding females in each group during pregnancy, leaving the other half as matched controls. This manipulation resulted in two categories of experimental offspring in synchronously born litters: (i) 'prenatal boost' offspring whose mothers had been fed during pregnancy, and (ii) 'postnatal boost' offspring whose mothers were not fed during pregnancy but who received extra alloparental care in the postnatal period. Prenatal boost offspring lived substantially longer as adults, but postnatal boost offspring had higher lifetime reproductive success (LRS) and higher glucocorticoid levels across the lifespan. Both types of experimental offspring had higher LRS than offspring from unmanipulated litters. We found no difference between the two experimental categories of offspring in adult weight, age at first reproduction, oxidative stress or telomere lengths. These findings are rare experimental evidence that prenatal and postnatal investments have distinct effects in moulding individual life history and fitness in wild mammals. This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolutionary ecology of inequality'.
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Affiliation(s)
- E. I. K. Vitikainen
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, UK
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, PO Box 65, 00014 Finland
| | - M. Meniri
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, UK
| | - H. H. Marshall
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, UK
- Centre for Research in Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour, University of Roehampton, Roehampton Lane, London SW15 5PJ, UK
| | - F. J. Thompson
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, UK
| | - R. Businge
- Banded Mongoose Research Project, Queen Elizabeth National Park, PO Box 66 Lake Katwe, Kasese District, Uganda
| | - F. Mwanguhya
- Banded Mongoose Research Project, Queen Elizabeth National Park, PO Box 66 Lake Katwe, Kasese District, Uganda
| | - S. Kyabulima
- Banded Mongoose Research Project, Queen Elizabeth National Park, PO Box 66 Lake Katwe, Kasese District, Uganda
| | - K. Mwesige
- Banded Mongoose Research Project, Queen Elizabeth National Park, PO Box 66 Lake Katwe, Kasese District, Uganda
| | - S. Ahabonya
- Banded Mongoose Research Project, Queen Elizabeth National Park, PO Box 66 Lake Katwe, Kasese District, Uganda
| | - J. L. Sanderson
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, UK
| | - G. Kalema-Zikusoka
- Conservation Through Public Health, PO Box 75298, Uringi Crescent Rd, Entebbe, Uganda
| | - J. I. Hoffman
- Department of Behavioural Ecology, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Konsequenz 45, 33619, Germany
| | - D. Wells
- Department of Behavioural Ecology, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Konsequenz 45, 33619, Germany
| | - G. Lewis
- Department of Biosciences, Wallace Building, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK
| | - S. L. Walker
- Chester Zoo Endocrine Laboratory, Endocrinology, Science Centre, Caughall Road, Upton-by-Chester, Chester, CH2 1LH, UK
| | - H. J. Nichols
- Department of Biosciences, Wallace Building, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK
| | - J. D. Blount
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, UK
| | - M. A. Cant
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, UK
- Banded Mongoose Research Project, Queen Elizabeth National Park, PO Box 66 Lake Katwe, Kasese District, Uganda
- German Primate Center, University of Goettingen, Kellnerweg 4, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
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Longitudinal telomere dynamics within natural lifespans of a wild bird. Sci Rep 2023; 13:4272. [PMID: 36922555 PMCID: PMC10017829 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-31435-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2022] [Accepted: 03/11/2023] [Indexed: 03/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Telomeres, the nucleotide sequences that protect the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes, shorten with each cell division and telomere loss may be influenced by environmental factors. Telomere length (TL) decreases with age in several species, but little is known about the sources of genetic and environmental variation in the change in TL (∆TL) in wild animals. In this study, we tracked changes in TL throughout the natural lifespan (from a few months to almost 9 years) of free-living house sparrows (Passer domesticus) in two different island populations. TL was measured in nestlings and subsequently up to four times during their lifetime. TL generally decreased with age (senescence), but we also observed instances of telomere lengthening within individuals. We found some evidence for selective disappearance of individuals with shorter telomeres through life. Early-life TL positively predicted later-life TL, but the within-individual repeatability in TL was low (9.2%). Using genetic pedigrees, we found a moderate heritability of ∆TL (h2 = 0.21), which was higher than the heritabilities of early-life TL (h2 = 0.14) and later-life TL measurements (h2 = 0.15). Cohort effects explained considerable proportions of variation in early-life TL (60%), later-life TL (53%), and ∆TL (37%), which suggests persistent impacts of the early-life environment on lifelong telomere dynamics. Individual changes in TL were independent of early-life TL. Finally, there was weak evidence for population differences in ∆TL that may be linked to ecological differences in habitat types. Combined, our results show that individual telomere biology is highly dynamic and influenced by both genetic and environmental variation in natural conditions.
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Remot F, Ronget V, Froy H, Rey B, Gaillard JM, Nussey DH, Lemaitre JF. Decline in telomere length with increasing age across nonhuman vertebrates: A meta-analysis. Mol Ecol 2022; 31:5917-5932. [PMID: 34437736 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2021] [Revised: 08/17/2021] [Accepted: 08/20/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The prediction that telomere length (TL) shortens with increasing age is a major element in considering the role of telomeres as a key player in evolution. While telomere attrition is found in humans both in vitro and in vivo, the increasing number of studies reporting diverse age-specific patterns of TL challenges the hypothesis of a universal decline of TL with increasing age. Here, we performed a meta-analysis to estimate the relationship between TL and age across 175 estimates encompassing 98 species of vertebrates. We found that, on average, TL does decline with increasing age during adulthood. However, this decline was weak and variable across vertebrate classes, and we also found evidence for a publication bias that might weaken our current evidence of decreasing TL with increasing age. We found no evidence for a faster decline in TL with increasing age when considering the juvenile stage (from birth to age at first reproduction) compared to the adult stage. Heterogeneity in TL ageing rates was explained by the method used to measure telomeres: detectable TL declines with increasing age were found only among studies using TRF with in-gel hybridisation and qFISH methods, but not in studies using qPCR and Southern blot-based TRF methods. While we confirmed that TL declines with increasing age in most adult vertebrates, our results identify an influence of telomere measurement methodology, which highlights the need to examine more thoroughly the effect of the method of measurement on TL estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florentin Remot
- Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, UMR5558, CNRS, Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Victor Ronget
- Unité Eco-anthropologie (EA), Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Paris, France
| | - Hannah Froy
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.,Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Benjamin Rey
- Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, UMR5558, CNRS, Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Jean-Michel Gaillard
- Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, UMR5558, CNRS, Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Daniel H Nussey
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Jean-François Lemaitre
- Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, UMR5558, CNRS, Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France
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Power ML, Power S, Bertelsen MF, Jones G, Teeling EC. Wing: A suitable nonlethal tissue type for repeatable and rapid telomere length estimates in bats. Mol Ecol Resour 2020; 21:421-432. [PMID: 33049101 DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.13276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2020] [Revised: 09/10/2020] [Accepted: 09/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Telomeres are used increasingly in ecology and evolution as biomarkers for ageing and environmental stress, and are typically measured from DNA extracted from nonlethally sampled blood. However, obtaining blood is not always possible in field conditions and only limited amounts can be taken from small mammals, such as bats, which moreover lack nucleated red blood cells and hence yield relatively low amounts of DNA. As telomere length can vary within species according to age and tissue, it is important to determine which tissues serve best as a representation of the organism as a whole. Here, we investigated whether wing tissue biopsies, a rapid and relatively noninvasive tissue collection method, could serve as a proxy for other tissues when measuring relative telomere length (rTL) in the Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus). Telomeres were measured from blood, brain, heart, kidney, liver lung, muscle and wing, and multiple wing biopsies were taken from the same individuals to determine intra-individual repeatability of rTL measured by using qPCR. Wing rTL correlated with rTL estimates from most tissues apart from blood. Blood rTL was not significantly correlated with rTL from any other tissue. Blood and muscle rTLs were significantly longer compared with other tissues, while lung displayed the shortest rTLs. Individual repeatability of rTL measures from wing tissue was high (>70%). Here we show the relationships between tissue telomere dynamics for the first time in a bat, and our results provide support for the use of wing tissue for rTL measurements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan L Power
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, Science Centre West, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Sarahjane Power
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, Science Centre West, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Mads F Bertelsen
- Center for Zoo and Wild Animal Health, Copenhagen Zoo, Frederiksberg, Denmark
| | - Gareth Jones
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Emma C Teeling
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, Science Centre West, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
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