Parental age does not influence offspring telomeres during early life in common gulls (Larus canus)

Parental age can affect offspring telomere length through heritable and epigenetic-like effects, but at what stage during development these effects are established is not well known. To address this, we conducted a cross-fostering experiment in common gulls (Larus canus) that enabled us distinguish between pre- and post-natal parental age effects on offspring telomere length. Whole clutches were exchanged after clutch completion within and between parental age classes (young and old) and blood samples were collected from chicks at hatching and during the fastest growth phase (11 days later) to measure telomeres. Neither the ages of the natal nor the foster parents’ predicted the telomere length or the change in telomere lengths of their chicks. Telomere length was repeatable within chicks, but increased across development (repeatability = 0.55, Intraclass Correlation Coefficient within sampling events 0.934). Telomere length and the change in telomere length were not predicted by post-n...

亲本年龄可通过遗传及类表观遗传效应（epigenetic-like effects）影响子代端粒长度（telomere length），但目前学界对该效应在发育过程中的具体建立阶段仍不甚明晰。为解决这一问题，我们在银鸥（Larus canus）中开展了交叉寄养实验（cross-fostering experiment），以此区分亲本年龄对子代端粒长度的产前与产后效应。我们在亲本产完整窝卵后，于年轻组与老年组亲本的组内及组间交换全部窝卵，并分别在雏鸟孵化当日以及快速生长阶段（孵化后11天）采集血液样本以检测端粒。无论是亲生亲本还是寄养亲本的年龄，均无法预测其子代雏鸟的端粒长度及其端粒长度变化量。雏鸟个体内的端粒长度具有可重复性，且随发育进程显著增加（可重复性系数=0.55，采样事件组内组内相关系数（Intraclass Correlation Coefficient）为0.934）。端粒长度及其端粒长度变化均无法通过产后……