Abstract
BackgroundTelomere length (TL) has been found to be associated with life span in birds and humans. However, other studies have demonstrated that TL does not affect survival among old humans. Furthermore, replicative senescence has been shown to be induced by changes in the protected status of the telomeres rather than the loss of TL. In the present study we explore whether age- and sex-specific telomere dynamics affect life span in a long-lived snake, the water python (Liasis fuscus).Methodology/Principal FindingsErythrocyte TL was measured using the Telo TAGGG TL Assay Kit (Roche). In contrast to other vertebrates, TL of hatchling pythons was significantly shorter than that of older snakes. However, during their first year of life hatchling TL increased substantially. While TL of older snakes decreased with age, we did not observe any correlation between TL and age in cross-sectional sampling. In older snakes, female TL was longer than that of males. When using recapture as a proxy for survival, our results do not support that longer telomeres resulted in an increased water python survival/longevity.Conclusions/SignificanceIn fish high telomerase activity has been observed in somatic cells exhibiting high proliferation rates. Hatchling pythons show similar high somatic cell proliferation rates. Thus, the increase in TL of this group may have been caused by increased telomerase activity. In older humans female TL is longer than that of males. This has been suggested to be caused by high estrogen levels that stimulate increased telomerase activity. Thus, high estrogen levels may also have caused the longer telomeres in female pythons. The lack of correlation between TL and age among old snakes and the fact that longer telomeres did not appear to affect python survival do not support that erythrocyte telomere dynamics has a major impact on water python longevity.
Highlights
One of the fundamental factors determining longevity is the ageing process
Cross sectional analyses When hatchling pythons were included in an analysis of the relationship between Telomere length (TL) and age a significant positive correlation was revealed (Spearman rank correlation: rs = 0.57, p,0.0001, n = 70)
The difference in TL between hatchling pythons and older snakes is unlikely to be caused by selective mortality as our longitudinal data demonstrated that the TL increased substantially when the snakes were re-sampled at an older age
Summary
One of the fundamental factors determining longevity is the ageing process. Because of its obvious negative impact on organismal fitness, it should be opposed by natural selection. Recent research demonstrate that ageing, and longevity are governed by genetical processes [1] which have been shown to consist of several factors, such as mitochondrial mutations, modulations of stem cell developmental pathways and immunosenescence [2,3]. Another fundamental cellular process that has been linked to aging is the gradual attrition of telomeres with increasing age [4]. In the present study we explore whether age- and sex-specific telomere dynamics affect life span in a long-lived snake, the water python (Liasis fuscus)
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