Optimally, mutation and the evolution of ageing

Partridge, Linda; Barton, Nick

doi:10.1038/362305a0

Cited by 586 publications

(434 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…Birds gain freedom from hazard by their ability to fly (Pomeroy 1990) and consequently have much longer life expectancy for their size than mammals (Partridge and Barton 1993). This is a reflection of "r" and "K" selection for life history traits, where individuals with low survival must reproduce rapidly and intensively, whereas individuals with higher survival can reproduce more slowly and produce fewer young (Lessells et al 1991).…”

Section: High Costs Of Compensating For Predation Riskmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predation in bird populations

Cresswell

2010

J Ornithol

222

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One of the classic ecological questions is how predators affect population size. This is often assessed by measuring how many individuals are killed by a predator, yet such direct effects may only be a relatively minor part of population dynamics. Predators frequently affect prey populations indirectly, with the fear of predation resulting in costly behavioural compensation leading to potentially large population and community effects. Large observable lethal effects may then just represent the most easily observed "special" cases of the effects of predation on populations, with the costs of non-lethal effects being ubiquitous and usually dominant. This review explores these two ideas: that cases where there are no population effects due to predation, and cases where lethal effects dominate, are unusual and involve special circumstances. First, systems where predation effects appear not to arise include complete avoidance of predators by prey; when other environmental factors limit populations so that predation is not additive to mortality; when there are other more vulnerable prey for a predator; when predators interact; because the relationship of perceived predation risk with predator abundance is usually a non-linear function, and simply because non-lethal effects have not been considered. Second, lethal effects tend to dominate over non-lethal effects when there is a high cost of compensating for predation risk associated with either resource constraint or a particularly vulnerable niche or life history stage (e.g. the nest stage generally for birds); when prey are the most popular prey of a predator or linear trophic chains operate; when there is evolutionary lag such as introduced predators and naïve prey populations; and when there are several predator species hunting the same prey in diverse ways. The presence of predators may or may not affect the size of a bird population at any particular life history stage, although in most cases it will through non-lethal effects and occasionally through lethal effects.But the presence of predators will always affect intra-and interspecific competition and so will always affect population dynamics. Studies that wish to fully demonstrate that predation has no effect on bird populations must show that lethal effects and the costs of non-lethal compensation by the prey do not significantly change its density and so the level of competition.3

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Section: High Costs Of Compensating For Predation Riskmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predation in bird populations

Cresswell

2010

J Ornithol

222

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“…In addition, about one-third of single base pair mutations causing genetic disease are attributable to deamination of 5meC (5). Since deamination of 5meC is expected to be time-dependent, it is a potential source of mutations that may contribute to the senescence of cells and individuals (6).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

5-Methylcytosine is not a mutation hot spot in nondividing Escherichia coli

Lieb¹,

Rehmat²

1997

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Spontaneous deamination of 5-methylcytosine (5meC) causes hot spots of C⅐G 3 T⅐A mutations in Escherichia coli and in human cells. In E. coli, the resulting T⅐G mispairs can be corrected to C⅐G by very short patch (VSP) repair, which requires the product of gene vsr. Mutation hot spots in genes of replicating vsr ؉ bacteria are attributable to low Vsr activity. To determine the rate of deamination of 5meC and the efficiency of VSP repair in nondividing bacteria, we used kanamycin-sensitive (Kan S ) lysogens containing a kan ؊ prophage. Deamination of a 5meC in the kan ؊ gene resulted in mutation to kanamycin resistance (Kan R ). Lysogens containing a single kan ؊ prophage per bacterial genome were grown in synthetic medium with limiting amino acids and stored at 15؇C or 37؇C. In the absence of VSP repair, Kan R mutants accumulated at the rate of approximately 1.3 ؋ 10 ؊7 per bacterium per day at 37؇C. This is similar to the 5meC 3 T mutation rate reported for DNA in solution. In vsr ؉ bacteria, the Kan R accumulation rate was 3 ؋ 10 ؊9 per bacterium per day, which is not significantly higher than the rate observed when the target cytosine was unmethylated. The increase in Kan R mutants was barely detectable in vsr ؉ cultures stored at 15؇C for 4 months. It is likely that mutation hot spots at 5meC in rapidly dividing cells are attributable to insufficient time for T⅐G correction in the interval between deamination of 5meC and subsequent DNA replication. DNA synthesis occurred in bacteria starved for amino acids and this synthesis was not highly mutagenic.

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“…In the simplest of evolutionary terms, organismal senescence can be viewed as the result of declining natural selection with advancing age after puberty (Charlesworth 1980;Rose 1991;Partridge and Barton 1993;Martin et al 1996;Kirkwood and Austad 2000). Evolutionary biology also provides a particular set of intellectual and experimental tools for probing the physiological, biochemical and molecular mechanisms responsible for organismal aging.…”

Section: Comparative Methods and The Biology Of Agingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given this perspective, broadening our biogerontological focus to include animal models exposed to environmental challenges from pathogens and parasites is essential. Furthermore, tradeoffs between development, reproduction and somatic maintenance (including immune defenses against infectious disease) are one of the cornerstones of evolutionary aging theory (Partridge and Barton 1993;Kirkwood and Austad 2000) and should be investigated in environments that are as relevant to evolutionary forces in nature as possible.…”

Section: This Issue)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative and alternative approaches and novel animal models for aging research

Holmes

Kristan

2008

AGE

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This special issue of AGE showcases powerful alternative or unconventional approaches to basic aging research, including the use of exceptionally long-lived animal model species and comparative methods from evolutionary biology. In this opening paper, we introduce several of these alternative aging research themes, including the comparative phylogenetic approach. This approach applies modern inferential methods for dissecting basic physiological and biochemical mechanisms correlated with phenotypic traits including longevity, slow aging, sustained somatic maintenance, and repair of molecular damage. Comparative methods can be used to assess the general relevance of specific aging mechanismsincluding oxidative processes-to diverse animal species, as well as to assess their potential clinical relevance to humans and other mammals. We also introduce several other novel, underexploited approaches with particular relevance to biogerontology, including the use of model animal species or strains that retain natural genetic heterogeneity, studies of effects of infectious disease and parasites on aging and responses to caloric restriction, studies of reproductive aging, and naturally occurring sex differences in aging. We emphasize the importance of drawing inferences from aging phenomena in laboratory studies that can be applied to clinically relevant aging syndromes in long-lived, outbred animals, including humans.

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Optimally, mutation and the evolution of ageing

Cited by 586 publications

References 79 publications

Predation in bird populations

Predation in bird populations

5-Methylcytosine is not a mutation hot spot in nondividing Escherichia coli

Comparative and alternative approaches and novel animal models for aging research

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