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Assortative breeding experiment in a songbird suggests telomere length is determined during early life rather than at conception

Xiong, Ye LU orcid ; Melgar, Julian LU ; Tobler, Michael LU and Hasselquist, Dennis LU (2025) In Scientific Reports 15(1).
Abstract

Telomere length (TL) early in life often shows high heritability and may predict telomere shortening later in life and life expectancy. Yet, there is limited data about what influences TL and TL change at early developmental stages. It is debated whether early-life TL is determined at conception or shaped by early environmental conditions. Here, we investigate whether TL and telomere shortening are set close to conception. We assortatively paired zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) based on their TL when nestlings, forming two parental pair groups with either ‘short’ or ‘long’ TL. We then measured TL in the offspring of these pairs at the embryo and nestling stages. In embryos, TL did not differ between offspring from the two parental... (More)

Telomere length (TL) early in life often shows high heritability and may predict telomere shortening later in life and life expectancy. Yet, there is limited data about what influences TL and TL change at early developmental stages. It is debated whether early-life TL is determined at conception or shaped by early environmental conditions. Here, we investigate whether TL and telomere shortening are set close to conception. We assortatively paired zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) based on their TL when nestlings, forming two parental pair groups with either ‘short’ or ‘long’ TL. We then measured TL in the offspring of these pairs at the embryo and nestling stages. In embryos, TL did not differ between offspring from the two parental pair groups. However, in nestlings, particularly in sons, offspring TL matched parental TL. Our results suggest that early-life TL itself is not determined at conception. Instead, telomere shortening rate before and just after hatching appears to determine early postnatal TL. These findings highlight that early development is critical for telomere shortening during early life stages and that it may be a key process underlying the similarity in early-life TL between parents and offspring, potentially affecting telomere dynamics throughout life.

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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Ageing, Early development, Fetal programming, Sex differences, Zebra finch
in
Scientific Reports
volume
15
issue
1
article number
36510
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • scopus:105019396219
  • pmid:41120532
ISSN
2045-2322
DOI
10.1038/s41598-025-23517-7
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
20db4b82-7050-4174-aa83-fcff9b00de0b
date added to LUP
2025-12-10 15:13:25
date last changed
2025-12-11 03:00:01
@article{20db4b82-7050-4174-aa83-fcff9b00de0b,
  abstract     = {{<p>Telomere length (TL) early in life often shows high heritability and may predict telomere shortening later in life and life expectancy. Yet, there is limited data about what influences TL and TL change at early developmental stages. It is debated whether early-life TL is determined at conception or shaped by early environmental conditions. Here, we investigate whether TL and telomere shortening are set close to conception. We assortatively paired zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) based on their TL when nestlings, forming two parental pair groups with either ‘short’ or ‘long’ TL. We then measured TL in the offspring of these pairs at the embryo and nestling stages. In embryos, TL did not differ between offspring from the two parental pair groups. However, in nestlings, particularly in sons, offspring TL matched parental TL. Our results suggest that early-life TL itself is not determined at conception. Instead, telomere shortening rate before and just after hatching appears to determine early postnatal TL. These findings highlight that early development is critical for telomere shortening during early life stages and that it may be a key process underlying the similarity in early-life TL between parents and offspring, potentially affecting telomere dynamics throughout life.</p>}},
  author       = {{Xiong, Ye and Melgar, Julian and Tobler, Michael and Hasselquist, Dennis}},
  issn         = {{2045-2322}},
  keywords     = {{Ageing; Early development; Fetal programming; Sex differences; Zebra finch}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Scientific Reports}},
  title        = {{Assortative breeding experiment in a songbird suggests telomere length is determined during early life rather than at conception}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-23517-7}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41598-025-23517-7}},
  volume       = {{15}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}