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Sexual differences in telomere selection in the wild
Citation
Olsson, M and Pauliny, A and Wapstra, E and Uller, T and Schwartz, T and Miller, E and Blomqvist, D, Sexual differences in telomere selection in the wild, Molecular Ecology, 20, (10) pp. 2085-2099. ISSN 0962-1083 (2011) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
The definitive published version is available online at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/
Official URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/
DOI: doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2011.05085.x
Abstract
Telomere length is restored primarily through the action of the reverse transcriptase
telomerase, which may contribute to a prolonged lifespan in some but not all species and
may result in longer telomeres in one sex than the other. To what extent this is an effect
of proximate mechanisms (e.g. higher stress in males, higher oestradiol ⁄ oestrogen levels
in females), or is an evolved adaptation (stronger selection for telomere length in one
sex), usually remains unknown. Sand lizard (Lacerta agilis) females have longer
telomeres than males and better maintain telomere length through life than males do. We
also show that telomere length more strongly contributes to life span and lifetime
reproductive success in females than males and that telomere length is under sexually
diversifying selection in the wild. Finally, we performed a selection analysis with
number of recruited offspring into the adult population as a response variable with
telomere length, life span and body size as predictor variables. This showed significant
differences in selection pressures between the sexes with strong ongoing selection in
females, with these three predictors explaining 63% of the variation in recruitment. Thus,
the sexually dimorphic telomere dynamics with longer telomeres in females is a result of
past and ongoing selection in sand lizards. Finally, we compared the results from our
selection analyses based on Telometric-derived data to the results based on data
generated by the software ImageJ. ImageJ resulted in shorter average telomere length,
but this difference had virtually no qualitative effect on the patterns of ongoing
selection.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | lizards, sexual dimorphism, telomere, telomere length |
| Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
| Research Group: | Ecology |
| Research Field: | Population ecology |
| Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
| Objective Group: | Management of Antarctic and Southern Ocean environments |
| Objective Field: | Assessment and management of Antarctic and Southern Ocean ecosystems |
| UTAS Author: | Wapstra, E (Professor Erik Wapstra) |
| ID Code: | 69579 |
| Year Published: | 2011 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 49 |
| Deposited By: | Zoology |
| Deposited On: | 2011-05-02 |
| Last Modified: | 2017-11-01 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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