scholarly journals Inbreeding is associated with shorter early-life telomere length in a wild passerine

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Le Pepke ◽  
Alina K. Niskanen ◽  
Thomas Kvalnes ◽  
Winnie Boner ◽  
Bernt-Erik Sæther ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Telomere Length ◽  
Inbreeding Depression ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Physiological State ◽  
Passer Domesticus ◽  
Early Life History ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Isolated Populations ◽  
House Sparrows

ABSTRACTInbreeding can have negative effects on survival and reproduction, which may be of conservation concern in small and isolated populations. However, the physiological mechanisms underlying inbreeding depression are not well-known. The length of telomeres, the DNA sequences protecting chromosome ends, has been associated with health or fitness in several species. We investigated effects of inbreeding on early-life telomere length in two small island populations of wild house sparrows (Passer domesticus) known to be affected by inbreeding depression. Using genomic and pedigree-based measures of inbreeding we found that inbred nestling house sparrows have shorter telomeres. This negative effect of inbreeding on telomere length may have been complemented by a heterosis effect resulting in longer telomeres in individuals that were less inbred than the population average. Furthermore, we found some evidence of stronger effects of inbreeding on telomere length in males than females. Thus, telomere length may reveal subtle costs of inbreeding in the wild and demonstrate a route by which inbreeding negatively impacts the physiological state of an organism already at early life-history stages.

scholarly journals Telomere length in house sparrows increases in early-life and can be paternally inherited

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Bennett ◽  
Antje Girndt ◽  
Alfredo Sánchez-Tójar ◽  
Terry Burke ◽  
Mirre J. P. Simons ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Telomere Length ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Passer Domesticus ◽  
Age Effects ◽  
Parental Age ◽  
House Sparrows ◽  
Older Parents ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Ageing Rate ◽  
Insight Into

Offspring of older parents in many species display decreased longevity, a faster ageing rate and lower fecundity than offspring born to younger parents. Biomarkers, such as telomeres, that tend to shorten as individual age, may provide insight into the mechanisms of parental age effects. Parental age could determine telomere length either through inheritance of shortened telomeres or through indirect effects, such as variation in parental care with parent ages, which in turn might lead to variation in offspring telomere length. There is no current consensus as to the heritability of telomere length, and the direction and extent of parental age effects however. To address this, here we experimentally investigate how parental age is associated with telomere length at two time points in early life in a captive population of house sparrows (Passer domesticus). We experimentally separated parental age from sex effects by allowing the parent birds to only mate with young, or old partners. We found that telomere length of the offspring increased between the age of 0.5 and 3 months at the group and individual level, which has been reported previously predominantly in non-avian taxa. We further show that older fathers produced daughters with a greater early-life increase in telomere length, supporting sex-specific inheritance, and or sex-specific non-genetic effects. Overall, our results highlight the need for more studies testing early-life telomere dynamics and sex-specific heritability of telomere length.

scholarly journals Longer telomeres during early life predict higher lifetime reproductive success in females but not males

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1951) ◽  
pp. 20210560
Author(s):  
Britt J. Heidinger ◽  
Aurelia C. Kucera ◽  
Jeff D. Kittilson ◽  
David F. Westneat
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Telomere Length ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Passer Domesticus ◽  
Population Variation ◽  
Lifetime Reproductive Success ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Telomere Loss ◽  
Telomere Dynamics

The mechanisms that contribute to variation in lifetime reproductive success are not well understood. One possibility is that telomeres, conserved DNA sequences at chromosome ends that often shorten with age and stress exposures, may reflect differences in vital processes or influence fitness. Telomere length often predicts longevity, but longevity is only one component of fitness and little is known about how lifetime reproductive success is related to telomere dynamics in wild populations. We examined the relationships between telomere length beginning in early life, telomere loss into adulthood and lifetime reproductive success in free-living house sparrows ( Passer domesticus ). We found that females, but not males, with longer telomeres during early life had higher lifetime reproductive success, owing to associations with longevity and not reproduction per year or attempt. Telomeres decreased with age in both sexes, but telomere loss was not associated with lifetime reproductive success. In this species, telomeres may reflect differences in quality or condition rather than the pace of life, but only in females. Sexually discordant selection on telomeres is expected to influence the stability and maintenance of within population variation in telomere dynamics and suggests that any role telomeres play in mediating life-history trade-offs may be sex specific.

scholarly journals Traffic noise exposure affects telomere length in nestling house sparrows

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 20150559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alizée Meillère ◽  
François Brischoux ◽  
Cécile Ribout ◽  
Frédéric Angelier
Keyword(s):  
Telomere Length ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Noise Exposure ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Passer Domesticus ◽  
Anthropogenic Noise ◽  
House Sparrows ◽  
Acoustic Environment ◽  
Fledging Success ◽  
The Impact

In a consistently urbanizing world, anthropogenic noise has become almost omnipresent, and there are increasing evidence that high noise levels can have major impacts on wildlife. While the effects of anthropogenic noise exposure on adult animals have been widely studied, surprisingly, there has been little consideration of the effects of noise pollution on developing organisms. Yet, environmental conditions experienced in early life can have dramatic lifelong consequences for fitness. Here, we experimentally manipulated the acoustic environment of free-living house sparrows ( Passer domesticus ) breeding in nest boxes. We focused on the impact of such disturbance on nestlings’ telomere length and fledging success, as telomeres (the protective ends of chromosomes) appear to be a promising predictor of longevity. We showed that despite the absence of any obvious immediate consequences (growth and fledging success), nestlings reared under traffic noise exposure exhibited reduced telomere lengths compared with their unexposed neighbours. Although the mechanisms responsible for this effect remain to be determined, our results provide the first experimental evidence that noise alone can affect a wild vertebrate's early-life telomere length. This suggests that noise exposure may entail important costs for developing organisms.

scholarly journals Slowing down the metabolic engine: impact of early-life corticosterone exposure on adult metabolism in house sparrows (Passer domesticus)

2019 ◽  
Vol 222 (22) ◽  
pp. jeb211771 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie M. Dupont ◽  
Jacquelyn K. Grace ◽  
Olivier Lourdais ◽  
François Brischoux ◽  
Frédéric Angelier
Keyword(s):  
Early Life ◽  
Passer Domesticus ◽  
House Sparrows ◽  
Slowing Down

scholarly journals Early-life telomere length covaries with life-history traits and scales with chromosome length in birds

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Le Pepke ◽  
Thor Harald Ringsby ◽  
Dan T. A. Eisenberg
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Telomere Length ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Chromosome Length ◽  
Life History Variation ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Phylogenetic Framework

Telomeres, the short DNA sequences that protect chromosome ends, are an ancient molecular structure, which is highly conserved across most eukaryotes. Species differ in their telomere lengths, but the causes of this variation are not well understood. Here, we demonstrate that mean early-life telomere length is an evolutionary labile trait across 58 bird species (representing 35 families in 12 orders) with the greatest trait diversity found among passerines. Among these species, telomere length is significantly negatively associated with the fast-slow axis of life-history variation, suggesting that telomere length may have evolved to mediate trade-offs between physiological requirements underlying the diversity of pace-of-life strategies in birds. Curiously, within some species, larger individual chromosome size predicts longer telomere lengths on that chromosome, leading to the suggestion that telomere length also covaries with chromosome length across species. We show that longer mean chromosome length or genome size tends to be associated with longer mean early-life telomere length (measured across all chromosomes) within a phylogenetic framework constituting up to 32 bird species. Combined, our analyses generalize patterns previously found within a few species and provide potential adaptive explanations for the 10-fold variation in telomere lengths observed among birds.

scholarly journals Social groups with diverse personalities mitigate physiological stress in a songbird

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Csongor I. Vagasi ◽  
Attila Fulop ◽  
Gergely Osvath ◽  
Peter L. Pap ◽  
Janka Penzes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Environment ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Physiological State ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Passer Domesticus ◽  
House Sparrows ◽  
The Social ◽  
Behavioural Types ◽  
Group Members

Social groups often consist of diverse phenotypes, including personality types, and this diversity is known to affect the functioning of the group as a whole. Social selection theory proposes that group composition (i.e. social environment) also influences the performance of individual group members. However, the effect of group behavioural composition on group members remains largely unexplored, and it is still contentious whether individuals benefit more in a social environment with homogeneous or diverse behavioural composition. We experimentally formed groups of house sparrows Passer domesticus with high and low diversity of personality (exploratory behaviour), and found that their physiological state (body condition, physiological stress and oxidative damage) improved with increasing group-level diversity of personality. These findings demonstrate that group personality composition affects the condition of group members and individuals benefit from social heterosis (i.e. associating with a diverse set of behavioural types). This aspect of the social life can play a key role in affiliation rules of social animals and might explain the evolutionary coexistence of different personalities in nature.

scholarly journals Social groups with diverse personalities mitigate physiological stress in a songbird

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1943) ◽  
pp. 20203092
Author(s):  
Csongor I. Vágási ◽  
Attila Fülöp ◽  
Gergely Osváth ◽  
Péter L. Pap ◽  
Janka Pénzes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Environment ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Physiological State ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Passer Domesticus ◽  
House Sparrows ◽  
The Social ◽  
Behavioural Types ◽  
Group Members

Social groups often consist of diverse phenotypes, including personality types, and this diversity is known to affect the functioning of the group as a whole. Social selection theory proposes that group composition (i.e. social environment) also influences the performance of individual group members. However, the effect of group behavioural composition on group members remains largely unexplored, and it is still contentious whether individuals benefit more in a social environment with homogeneous or diverse behavioural composition. We experimentally formed groups of house sparrows Passer domesticus with high and low diversity of personality (exploratory behaviour), and found that their physiological state (body condition, physiological stress and oxidative damage) improved with increasing group-level diversity of personality. These findings demonstrate that group personality composition affects the condition of group members and individuals benefit from social heterosis (i.e. associating with a diverse set of behavioural types). This aspect of the social life can play a key role in affiliation rules of social animals and might explain the evolutionary coexistence of different personalities in nature.

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