Abstract
AbstractThere has been increasing interest in the use of telomeres as biomarkers of stress, cellular ageing and life-histories. However, the telomere landscape is a diverse feature, with noticeable differences between species, a fact which is highlighted by the unusual telomeres of various vertebrate organisms. We broadly review differences in telomere dynamics among vertebrates, and emphasize the need to understand more about telomere processes and trends across species. As part of these species differences, we review unusual telomeres in vertebrates. This includes mega-telomeres, which are present across a diverse set of organisms, but also focusing on the unusual telomeres traits of marsupials and monotremes, which have seen little to no prior discussion, yet uniquely stand out from other unusual telomere features discovered thus far. Due to the presence of at least two unique telomere features in the marsupial family Dasyuridae, as well as to the presence of physiological strategies semelparity and torpor, which have implications for telomere life-histories in these species, we suggest that this family has a very large potential to uncover novel information on telomere evolution and dynamics.
Highlights
Telomeres, the specialised structures at the ends of chromosomes, often compared to the plastic tips on shoe laces, stop chromosomes from unravelling
This includes mega-telomeres, which are present across a diverse set of organisms, and focusing on the unusual telomeres traits of marsupials and monotremes, which have seen little to no prior discussion, yet uniquely stand out from other unusual telomere features discovered far
Due to the presence of at least two unique telomere features in the marsupial family Dasyuridae, as well as to the presence of physiological strategies semelparity and torpor, which have implications for telomere life-histories in these species, we suggest that this family has a very large potential to uncover novel information on telomere evolution and dynamics
Summary
The specialised structures at the ends of chromosomes, often compared to the plastic tips on shoe laces, stop chromosomes from unravelling. Telomeres progressively erode with each cell division, exacerbated by oxidative stresses [2,3,4], until a critically short length is reached and cell division ceases or cell death is initiated [5] This phenomenon of telomeres shortening with age has generated great interest in using telomere length (TL) as a biomarker for wildlife species in studying stress, life-histories and their association with survival [6]. These unique features demonstrate the importance of gaining a greater understanding of telomere biology across divergent taxa. We highlight the appearance of mega-telomeres across a diverse set of organisms, and focus on unique telomeric features of non-canonical telomere sequences in Australian marsupials and monotremes, as well as telomere length dimorphism in the marsupial dasyurid family
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