Data from: Telomere length and dynamics predict mortality in a wild longitudinal study

Explaining variation in life expectancy between individuals of the same age is fundamental to our understanding of population ecology and life-history evolution. Variation in the length and rate of loss of the protective telomere chromosome caps has been linked to cellular lifespan. Yet, the extent to which telomere length and dynamics predict organismal lifespan in nature is still contentious. Using longitudinal samples taken from a closed population of Acrocephalus sechellensis (Seychelles warblers) studied for over 20 years, we describe the first study into life-long adult telomere dynamics (1 to 17 years) and their relationship to mortality in natural conditions (N=204 individuals). We show that telomeres shorten with increasing age and body mass, and that shorter telomeres and greater rates of telomere shortening predicted future mortality. Our results provide the first clear and unambiguous evidence of a relationship between telomere length and mortality in the wild, and substantiate the prediction that telomere length and shortening rate can act as an indicators of biological age further to chronological age when exploring life-history questions in natural conditions.

解释同年龄个体间寿命预期的差异，是我们理解种群生态学与生活史进化的核心基础。保护性端粒（telomere）染色体帽的长度与损耗速率的变异，已被证实与细胞寿命相关。然而，端粒长度及其动态变化在多大程度上能够预测自然环境下的个体寿命，目前仍存在争议。本研究基于对塞舌尔苇莺（Acrocephalus sechellensis）封闭种群长达20余年的纵向采样，首次针对成年个体终生端粒动态（跨度1至17年）及其与自然条件下死亡率的关联展开研究（样本量N=204）。研究结果显示，端粒长度随年龄增长与体重增加而缩短，且更短的端粒与更快的端粒缩短速率可预测个体未来的死亡率。本研究首次为野生种群中端粒长度与死亡率之间的关联提供了清晰且确凿的证据，并证实了这一预测：在自然环境中探索生活史相关问题时，端粒长度与缩短速率可作为相较于实际年龄更具参考价值的生物年龄指示指标。