The effects of costly telomere maintenance on lifespan-reproductive tradeoffs in sand lizards

Telomeres are DNA-protein structures that primarily protect chromosomes and serve multiple functions of gene regulation. When cells divide, telomeres shorten and their main repair system in ectotherms - telomerase – replaces lost nucleotide complexes ((T2AG3)n in vertebrates). It remains a challenge to experimentally investigate resource requirements for telomere maintenance and its effects on lifespan-reproductive tradeoffs in the wild. In sand lizards (Lacerta agilis), we show that higher female investments into reproduction result in corresponding shortening of telomeres and that males have less frequent and less profound telomere shortening than females; a contributing factor to this may be males’ higher telomerase levels. To manipulate resource access for telomere maintenance, we exploit a pseudo-experimental opportunity to analyze ‘onboard’ resources long-term using lizards that drop their tails with fat and nutrient deposits when attacked by predators. Females with fewer resource..., Long-term field work on sand lizards followed by molecular analyses, , # Terminal decisions: lifespan-reproductive effort balance set by telomere maintenance in an ectotherm

Dryad DOI: [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.h70rxwdsj](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.h70rxwdsj)

Data description for ‘The effects of costly telomere maintenance on lifespan - reproductive tradeoffs in sand lizards’

Note: Empty boxes in Excel always denote missing values – a result of incomplete sampling of lizards in the wild throughout the decade-long sampling period (you can think of catchability through lizard life as a ‘sliding window’ with only some lizards being followed completely from birth to death.

#### File: FeCostOfReproRev 

Variables:

Adult number ('adno') = is the sequential identification number of each adult lizard

DNAquality (A260/280) ('aDNAqual') = is the ratio of absorbance at 260 and 280 nm is **used to assess DNA purity**.

Regenerated tail (mm) ('reg') = our lizards drop their tail when attacked by a predator, whereafter the tail regrows, and we measure the ...,

端粒（telomeres）是一类以DNA-蛋白质复合物形式存在的结构，主要功能为保护染色体，并参与多项基因调控过程。细胞分裂时，端粒会发生缩短，而外温动物体内的核心修复系统——端粒酶（telomerase）——可补充丢失的核苷酸复合物（脊椎动物中为(T2AG3)n序列）。在野生环境中，实验探究端粒维持所需的资源需求及其对寿命-繁殖权衡的影响，仍是一项尚未攻克的科学挑战。

针对沙蜥（Lacerta agilis）开展的研究结果显示：雌性个体的繁殖投入越高，其端粒缩短程度越显著；而雄性个体的端粒缩短频率更低、程度更轻微，这一现象的潜在诱因之一可能是雄性体内更高的端粒酶水平。

为人为调控端粒维持的资源供给，本研究利用了一项准实验契机：通过分析遭遇捕食者攻击后断尾并保留脂肪与营养沉积的沙蜥，对其“内置”资源开展长期追踪分析。资源相对匮乏的雌性个体……

本研究通过长达十年的沙蜥野外跟踪调查结合分子生物学分析完成。
# 研究主题：外温动物端粒维持调控寿命-繁殖投入平衡的终端决策机制
Dryad数据集DOI：https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.h70rxwdsj
本数据集对应研究《代价高昂的端粒维持对沙蜥寿命-繁殖权衡的影响》的数据说明：
注：Excel表格中的空单元格均代表缺失值，其成因是十年采样周期内对野生沙蜥的不完全抽样——可将蜥蜴一生的可捕获率视为一个“滑动窗口”，仅有部分个体能够从出生到死亡被完整追踪监测。

#### 文件：FeCostOfReproRev
变量说明：
1. 成年个体编号（'adno'）：每只成年沙蜥的连续识别编号
2. DNA质量（A260/280比值）（'aDNAqual'）：通过260nm与280nm处的吸光度比值评估DNA纯度
3. 再生尾长度（mm）（'reg'）：沙蜥遭遇捕食者攻击后会断尾，后续会再生出新尾，本研究对其……