Age-specific patterns of maternal investment in common gull egg yolk

Urvik, Janek; Rattiste, Kalev; Giraudeau, Mathieu; Okuliarova, Monika; Hõrak, Peeter; Sepp, Tuul

doi:10.1098/rsbl.2018.0346

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Our top model following within-parent centring yielded some statistical support for an interactive effect of paternal Δ age and offspring age class on offspring TL (table 1 and figure 1), in which the positive effect of paternal Δ age was not apparent post-hatching, and only became apparent within the oldest offspring age class (greater than or equal to 90 days of age; figure 1). While statistical support for the offspring age class interaction is not strong, the form of the interaction is nevertheless more consistent with a role for post-natal than pre-natal mechanisms [38]. Several plausible post-natal mechanisms exist.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Longitudinal evidence that older parents produce offspring with longer telomeres in a wild social bird

et al. 2021

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As telomere length (TL) often predicts survival and lifespan, there is considerable interest in the origins of inter-individual variation in TL. Cross-generational effects of parental age on offspring TL are thought to be a key source of variation, but the rarity of longitudinal studies that examine the telomeres of successive offspring born throughout the lives of parents leaves such effects poorly understood. Here, we exploit TL measures of successive offspring produced throughout the long breeding tenures of parents in wild white-browed sparrow weaver ( Plocepasser mahali ) societies, to isolate the effects of within-parent changes in age on offspring TLs. Our analyses reveal the first evidence to date of a positive within-parent effect of advancing age on offspring TL: as individual parents age, they produce offspring with longer telomeres (a modest effect that persists into offspring adulthood). We consider the potential for pre- and post-natal mechanisms to explain our findings. As telomere attrition predicts offspring survival to adulthood in this species, this positive parental age effect could impact parent and offspring fitness if it arose via differential telomere attrition during offspring development. Our findings support the view that cross-generational effects of parental age can be a source of inter-individual variation in TL.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Longitudinal evidence that older parents produce offspring with longer telomeres in a wild social bird

et al. 2021

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“…For that matter, we measured uropygial gland size in male and female common gulls (Larus canus), aged from 2 to 28 years, in a cross-sectional manner. Previous studies in this species have indicated that reproductive senescence is common in this colony, with old birds starting breeding later and having lower breeding success (Brommer and Rattiste 2008), lower investment into egg quality (Urvik et al 2018) and having smaller ornamental white wing patches (Sepp et al 2017) than middle-aged birds. At the same time, traits related to physiological condition (telomere length and skin pentosidine concentration; Rattiste et al 2015), and indices of oxidative and nutritional state (Urvik et al 2016), do not show consistent age-related patterns.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Uropygial gland size: a marker of phenotypic quality that shows no senescence in a long-lived seabird

et al. 2018

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Studies of senescence in the wild have traditionally focused on traits like survival or fecundity. Although efforts to measure other salient phenotypic traits and markers of relevant physiological processes are rapidly increasing, traits related to selfmaintenance remain understudied in the context of aging. Uropygial or preen gland is a holocrine gland, exclusive to birds, directly linked to self-maintenance of the quality of plumage. We measured the size of uropygial glands of common gulls (Larus canus) in a cross sectional manner in order to test whether it shows the similar age-related decline as reproductive traits previously recorded in this species. Gulls with larger glands started breeding earlier in the season, indicating that gland size is a marker of individual phenotypic quality. We found a senescent decline in the onset of breeding and the size of white wing patches, a sexually dimorphic ornamental trait, while in contrast, preen gland increased with advancing age. This finding supports the view of life-history theory that in long-lived species whose lifetime reproductive success depends heavily on lifespan, self-maintenance is prioritized over reproduction. Altogether our results support the concept that senescence in the wild can be asynchronous for traits related to maintenance versus reproduction.

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“…It is possible that old and young birds respond differently to this physiologically demanding period. Our previous studies have shown, for example, that older birds deposit less antioxidants in their eggs than younger birds, possibly with the aim of maintaining higher antioxidant level within their own (aging) body (Urvik et al., 2018). As has been suggested before (Aktipis, Boddy, Gatenby, Brown, & Maley, 2013), the links between (the cost of) reproduction, aging, and cancer probability are very likely.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ta B L E 2 (Continued)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Age‐dependent expression of cancer‐related genes in a long‐lived seabird

Meitern

Fort

Giraudeau

et al. 2020

Evolutionary Applications

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Studies of model animals like mice and rats have led to great advances in our understanding of the process of tumorigenesis, but this line of study has less to offer for understanding the mechanisms of cancer resistance. Increasing the diversity of nonmodel species from the perspective of molecular mechanisms of natural cancer resistance can lead to new insights into the evolution of protective mechanisms against neoplastic processes and to a wider understanding of natural cancer defense mechanisms. Such knowledge could then eventually be harnessed for the development of human cancer therapies. We suggest here that seabirds are promising, albeit currently completely ignored candidates for studying cancer defense mechanisms, as they have a longer maximum life span than expected from their body size and rates of energy metabolism and may have thus evolved mechanisms to limit neoplasia progression, especially at older ages. We here apply a novel, intraspecific approach of comparing old and young seabirds for improving our understanding of aging and neoplastic processes in natural settings. We used the long‐lived common gulls (Larus canus) for studying the age‐related pattern of expression of cancer‐related genes, based on transcriptome analysis and databases of orthologues of human cancer genes. The analysis of differently expressed cancer‐related genes between young and old gulls indicated that similarly to humans, age is potentially affecting cancer risk in this species. Out of eleven differentially expressed cancer‐related genes between the groups, three were likely artifactually linked to cancer. The remaining eight were downregulated in old gulls compared to young ones. The downregulation of five of them could be interpreted as a mechanism suppressing neoplasia risk and three as increasing the risk. Based on these results, we suggest that old gulls differ from young ones both from the aspect of cancer susceptibility and tumor suppression at the genetic level.

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Age-specific patterns of maternal investment in common gull egg yolk

Cited by 9 publications

References 20 publications

Longitudinal evidence that older parents produce offspring with longer telomeres in a wild social bird

Longitudinal evidence that older parents produce offspring with longer telomeres in a wild social bird

Uropygial gland size: a marker of phenotypic quality that shows no senescence in a long-lived seabird

Age‐dependent expression of cancer‐related genes in a long‐lived seabird

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