All's well that ends well: why large species have short telomeres.

ABSTRACT: Among mammal species, almost all life-history traits are strongly size dependent. This size dependence even occurs at a molecular level. For example, both telomere length and telomerase expression show a size-dependent threshold. With some exceptions, species smaller than approximately 2 kg express telomerase, while species larger than that do not. Among species greater than approximately 5 kg, telomeres tend to be short-less than 25 kb-while among smaller species, some species have short and some have long telomeres. Here, we present a model to explore the role of body size-dependent trade-offs in shaping this threshold. We assume that selection favours short telomeres as a mechanism to protect against cancer. At the same time, selection favours long telomeres as a protective mechanism ag

SUBMITTER: Risques RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5784068 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature