Mother–offspring and nest-mate resemblance but no heritability in early-life telomere length in white-throated dippers

Becker, Philipp J. J.; Reichert, Sophie; Zahn, Sandrine; Hegelbach, Johann; Massemin, Sylvie; Keller, Lukas F.; Postma, Erik; Criscuolo, François

doi:10.1098/rspb.2014.2924

Cited by 39 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 62 publications

(115 reference statements)

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“…These studies considered between‐population rather than within‐population inbreeding variation, and the results cannot easily be compared with those from wild systems. The third study, in a natural population of white‐throated dippers Cinclus cinclus, reported no significant relationship between inbreeding and telomere length (Becker et al …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Telomere length reveals cumulative individual and transgenerational inbreeding effects in a passerine bird

et al. 2016

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Inbreeding results in more homozygous offspring that should suffer reduced fitness, but it can be difficult to quantify these costs for several reasons. First, inbreeding depression may vary with ecological or physiological stress and only be detectable over long time periods. Second, parental homozygosity may indirectly affect offspring fitness, thus confounding analyses that consider offspring homozygosity alone. Finally, measurement of inbreeding coefficients, survival and reproductive success may often be too crude to detect inbreeding costs in wild populations. Telomere length provides a more precise measure of somatic costs, predicts survival in many species and should reflect differences in somatic condition that result from varying ability to cope with environmental stressors. We studied relative telomere length in a wild population of Seychelles warblers (Acrocephalus sechellensis) to assess the lifelong relationship between individual homozygosity, which reflects genome‐wide inbreeding in this species, and telomere length. In juveniles, individual homozygosity was negatively associated with telomere length in poor seasons. In adults, individual homozygosity was consistently negatively related to telomere length, suggesting the accumulation of inbreeding depression during life. Maternal homozygosity also negatively predicted offspring telomere length. Our results show that somatic inbreeding costs are environmentally dependent at certain life stages but may accumulate throughout life.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Telomere length reveals cumulative individual and transgenerational inbreeding effects in a passerine bird

et al. 2016

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“…As well as environmental effects, variation in early‐life RLTL can also be caused by additive genetic effects (Dugdale & Richardson, ). In wild populations, using a quantitative genetic animal model, no heritability of telomere length was found in white‐throated dippers ( Cinclus cinclus ; Becker et al, ), and high heritability (0.35–0.48) was found in the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus ; Asghar, Bensch, et al, ). Although we currently have no heritability estimates from wild mammals, the likelihood for additive genetic effects in our study system to contribute to early‐life RLTL is small given that individual repeatability, which sets the upper limit for heritability (unless indirect genetic effects occur), in RLTL is low.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual variation in early‐life telomere length and survival in a wild mammal

et al. 2019

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Individual variation in survival probability due to differential responses to early‐life environmental conditions is important in the evolution of life histories and senescence. A biomarker allowing quantification of such individual variation, and which links early‐life environmental conditions with survival by providing a measure of conditions experienced, is telomere length. Here, we examined telomere dynamics among 24 cohorts of European badgers (Meles meles). We found a complex cross‐sectional relationship between telomere length and age, with no apparent loss over the first 29 months, but with both decreases and increases in telomere length at older ages. Overall, we found low within‐individual consistency in telomere length across individual lifetimes. Importantly, we also observed increases in telomere length within individuals, which could not be explained by measurement error alone. We found no significant sex differences in telomere length, and provide evidence that early‐life telomere length predicts lifespan. However, while early‐life telomere length predicted survival to adulthood (≥1 year old), early‐life telomere length did not predict adult survival probability. Furthermore, adult telomere length did not predict survival to the subsequent year. These results show that the relationship between early‐life telomere length and lifespan was driven by conditions in early‐life, where early‐life telomere length varied strongly among cohorts. Our data provide evidence for associations between early‐life telomere length and individual life history, and highlight the dynamics of telomere length across individual lifetimes due to individuals experiencing different early‐life environments.

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“…In white‐throated dippers ( Cinclus cinclus ), Becker et al . used an animal model to analyze telomere heritability (using qPCR), Z‐linked inheritance, and environmental effects while controlling for inbreeding effects (Wright's f ).…”

Section: Quantitative Genetics Sex Chromosomes Heritability and Evmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary ecology of telomeres: a review

Olsson

Wapstra

Friesen

2017

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

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Telomere-induced selection could take place if telomere-associated disease risk shortens reproductive life span and differently reduces relative fitness among individuals. Some of these diseases first appear before reproductive senescence and could thus influence ongoing selection. We ask whether we can estimate the components of the breeder's equation for telomeres, in which the response to selection (R, by definition "evolution") is the product of ongoing selection (S) and heritability (h 2 ). However, telomere inheritance is a conundrum: in quantitative genetics, traits can usually be allocated to categories with relatively high or low heritability, depending on their association with relative fitness. Telomere traits, however, show wide variation in heritability from zero to one, across taxa, gender, ethnicity, age, and disease status. In spite of this, there is divergence in telomere length among populations, supporting past and ongoing telomere evolution. Rates of telomere attrition and elongation vary among taxa with some, but not complete, taxonomic coherence. For example, telomerase is commonly referred to as "restricted to the germ line in mammals," but inbred mice and beavers have telomerase upregulation in somatic tissue, as do many ectotherms. These observations provoke a simplistic understanding of telomere evolutionary biology-clearly much is yet to be discovered.

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Mother–offspring and nest-mate resemblance but no heritability in early-life telomere length in white-throated dippers

Cited by 39 publications

References 62 publications

Telomere length reveals cumulative individual and transgenerational inbreeding effects in a passerine bird

Telomere length reveals cumulative individual and transgenerational inbreeding effects in a passerine bird

Individual variation in early‐life telomere length and survival in a wild mammal

Evolutionary ecology of telomeres: a review

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