Sex differences in sand lizard telomere inheritance: paternal epigenetic effects increases telomere heritability and offspring survival |
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Authors: | Olsson Mats Pauliny Angela Wapstra Erik Uller Tobias Schwartz Tonia Blomqvist Donald |
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Institution: | School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. molsson@uow.edu.au |
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Abstract: | BackgroundTo date, the only estimate of the heritability of telomere length in wild
populations comes from humans. Thus, there is a need for analysis of natural
populations with respect to how telomeres evolve.Methodology/Principal FindingsHere, we show that telomere length is heritable in free-ranging sand lizards,
Lacerta agilis. More importantly, heritability
estimates analysed within, and contrasted between, the sexes are markedly
different; son-sire heritability is much higher relative to daughter-dam
heritability. We assess the effect of paternal age on Telomere Length (TL)
and show that in this species, paternal age at conception is the best
predictor of TL in sons. Neither paternal age per se at
blood sampling for telomere screening, nor corresponding age in sons impact
TL in sons. Processes maintaining telomere length are also associated with
negative fitness effects, most notably by increasing the risk of cancer and
show variation across different categories of individuals (e.g. males vs.
females). We therefore tested whether TL influences offspring survival in
their first year of life. Indeed such effects were present and independent
of sex-biased offspring mortality and offspring malformations.Conclusions/SignificanceTL show differences in sex-specific heritability with implications for
differences between the sexes with respect to ongoing telomere selection.
Paternal age influences the length of telomeres in sons and longer telomeres
enhance offspring survival. |
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