Increased brood size leads to persistent eroded telomeres
Costs of reproduction can be divided in mandatory costs coming from physiological, metabolic and anatomical changes required to sustain reproduction itself, and in investment-dependent costs that are likely to become apparent when reproductive efforts are exceeding what organisms were prepared to su...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2014-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fevo.2014.00009/full |
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| author | Sophie eReichert Antoine eStier Sandrine eZahn Mathilde eArrive Pierre eBize Sylvie eMassemin François eCriscuolo |
| author_facet | Sophie eReichert Antoine eStier Sandrine eZahn Mathilde eArrive Pierre eBize Sylvie eMassemin François eCriscuolo |
| author_sort | Sophie eReichert |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Costs of reproduction can be divided in mandatory costs coming from physiological, metabolic and anatomical changes required to sustain reproduction itself, and in investment-dependent costs that are likely to become apparent when reproductive efforts are exceeding what organisms were prepared to sustain. Interestingly, recent data showed that entering reproduction enhanced breeders’ telomere loss, but no data explored so far the impact of reproductive investment. Telomeres protect the ends of eukaryote chromosomes. Shortened telomeres were associated with shorter lifespan, telomere erosion being then proposed to powerfully quantify life’s insults. Here, we experimentally manipulated brood size in order to modify reproductive investment of adult zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) below or beyond their (optimal) starting investment and tested the consequences of our treatment on parents’ telomere dynamics. We show that an increased brood size led to a reduction in telomere lengths in both parents compared to control and to parents raising a reduced brood. This greater telomere erosion was detected in parents immediately after the reproductive event and the telomere length difference persisted up to one year later. However, we did not detect any effects of brood size manipulation on annual survival of parents kept under laboratory conditions. In addition, telomere lengths at the end of reproduction were not associated with annual survival. Altogether, although our findings highlight that fast telomere erosion can come as a cost of brood size manipulation, they provide mixed correlative support to the emerging hypothesis that telomere erosion could account for the links between high reproductive investment and longevity. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T03:30:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3a82b9bfbe4b4fa5906df53585be73ef |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-701X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T03:30:13Z |
| publishDate | 2014-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-3a82b9bfbe4b4fa5906df53585be73ef2022-12-21T20:37:31ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution2296-701X2014-04-01210.3389/fevo.2014.0000981177Increased brood size leads to persistent eroded telomeresSophie eReichert0Antoine eStier1Sandrine eZahn2Mathilde eArrive3Pierre eBize4Sylvie eMassemin5François eCriscuolo6Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueCentre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueCentre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueCentre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueUniversity of AberdeenCentre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueCentre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueCosts of reproduction can be divided in mandatory costs coming from physiological, metabolic and anatomical changes required to sustain reproduction itself, and in investment-dependent costs that are likely to become apparent when reproductive efforts are exceeding what organisms were prepared to sustain. Interestingly, recent data showed that entering reproduction enhanced breeders’ telomere loss, but no data explored so far the impact of reproductive investment. Telomeres protect the ends of eukaryote chromosomes. Shortened telomeres were associated with shorter lifespan, telomere erosion being then proposed to powerfully quantify life’s insults. Here, we experimentally manipulated brood size in order to modify reproductive investment of adult zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) below or beyond their (optimal) starting investment and tested the consequences of our treatment on parents’ telomere dynamics. We show that an increased brood size led to a reduction in telomere lengths in both parents compared to control and to parents raising a reduced brood. This greater telomere erosion was detected in parents immediately after the reproductive event and the telomere length difference persisted up to one year later. However, we did not detect any effects of brood size manipulation on annual survival of parents kept under laboratory conditions. In addition, telomere lengths at the end of reproduction were not associated with annual survival. Altogether, although our findings highlight that fast telomere erosion can come as a cost of brood size manipulation, they provide mixed correlative support to the emerging hypothesis that telomere erosion could account for the links between high reproductive investment and longevity.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fevo.2014.00009/fullAgingOxidative StressTelomerebirdZebra finchcost of reproduction |
| spellingShingle | Sophie eReichert Antoine eStier Sandrine eZahn Mathilde eArrive Pierre eBize Sylvie eMassemin François eCriscuolo Increased brood size leads to persistent eroded telomeres Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Aging Oxidative Stress Telomere bird Zebra finch cost of reproduction |
| title | Increased brood size leads to persistent eroded telomeres |
| title_full | Increased brood size leads to persistent eroded telomeres |
| title_fullStr | Increased brood size leads to persistent eroded telomeres |
| title_full_unstemmed | Increased brood size leads to persistent eroded telomeres |
| title_short | Increased brood size leads to persistent eroded telomeres |
| title_sort | increased brood size leads to persistent eroded telomeres |
| topic | Aging Oxidative Stress Telomere bird Zebra finch cost of reproduction |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fevo.2014.00009/full |
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