Ujvari, Beata; Biro, Peter A; Charters, Jordan E; Brown, Gregory; Heasman, Kim; Beckmann, Christa; Madsen, Thomas

Author(s)

Ujvari, Beata

Biro, Peter A

Charters, Jordan E

Brown, Gregory

Heasman, Kim

Beckmann, Christa

Madsen, Thomas

Publication Date

2017

Abstract

The lack of consensus concerning the impact of telomere length (TL) dynamics on survival emphasizes the need for additional studies to evaluate the eﬀect of TL on key life-history processes. Using both cross-sectional and longitudinal data, we therefore explored age-speciﬁc TL dynamics in a squamate reptile: the frillneck lizard (Chlamydosaurus kingii). Our cross-sectional analyses revealed that young lizards had short TL, TL increased in medium-aged lizards, but TL decreased in older age cohorts, revealing a curvilinear relationship between TL and frillne ck lizard age. Neither our cross-sectional nor our longitudinal analyses revealed any association between TL dynamics and lizard survival. We observed a signiﬁcant positive relationshi p between TL and telomerase expression (TE), suggesting that TE is a signiﬁcant determinant of frillneck lizard TL dynamics. Importantly, our longitudinal analyses revealed a positive relationship between initial TL and telomere attrition rate within individual lizards, that is lizards with short initial telomeres were subjected to reduced telomere attrition rates compared to lizards with long initial TL. Our results strongly suggest that TL and TE dynamics in frillneck lizards is not associated with lizard survival but rather reﬂect an adaptation to maintain TL above a critical minimum length in order to sustain cellular homeostasis.

Citation

Functional Ecology, 31(3), p. 753-759

ISSN

1365-2435

0269-8463

Link

https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/22007

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Title

Curvilinear telomere length dynamics in a squamate reptile

Type of document

Journal Article

Entity Type

Publication

Author(s)	Ujvari, Beata Biro, Peter A Charters, Jordan E Brown, Gregory Heasman, Kim Beckmann, Christa Madsen, Thomas
Publication Date	2017
Abstract	The lack of consensus concerning the impact of telomere length (TL) dynamics on survival emphasizes the need for additional studies to evaluate the eﬀect of TL on key life-history processes. Using both cross-sectional and longitudinal data, we therefore explored age-speciﬁc TL dynamics in a squamate reptile: the frillneck lizard (Chlamydosaurus kingii). Our cross-sectional analyses revealed that young lizards had short TL, TL increased in medium-aged lizards, but TL decreased in older age cohorts, revealing a curvilinear relationship between TL and frillne ck lizard age. Neither our cross-sectional nor our longitudinal analyses revealed any association between TL dynamics and lizard survival. We observed a signiﬁcant positive relationshi p between TL and telomerase expression (TE), suggesting that TE is a signiﬁcant determinant of frillneck lizard TL dynamics. Importantly, our longitudinal analyses revealed a positive relationship between initial TL and telomere attrition rate within individual lizards, that is lizards with short initial telomeres were subjected to reduced telomere attrition rates compared to lizards with long initial TL. Our results strongly suggest that TL and TE dynamics in frillneck lizards is not associated with lizard survival but rather reﬂect an adaptation to maintain TL above a critical minimum length in order to sustain cellular homeostasis.
Citation	Functional Ecology, 31(3), p. 753-759
ISSN	1365-2435 0269-8463
Link	https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/22007
Publisher	Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Title	Curvilinear telomere length dynamics in a squamate reptile
Type of document	Journal Article
Entity Type	Publication

Curvilinear telomere length dynamics in a squamate reptile

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