Ultralong telomeres shorten with age in nestling great tits but are static in adults and mask attrition of short telomeres.

ABSTRACT: Telomere length (TL) is increasingly being used as a biomarker of senescence, but measuring telomeres remains a challenge. Within tissue samples, TL varies between cells and chromosomes. Class I telomeres are (presumably static) interstitial telomeric sequences, while terminal telomeres have been divided in shorter (Class II) telomeres and ultralong (Class III) telomeres, and the presence of the latter varies strongly between species. Class II telomeres typically shorten with age, but little is known of Class III telomere dynamics. Using multiple experimental approaches, we show great tits to have ultralong telomeres, and we investigated age effects on Class II and III telomeres using a longitudinal approach (our method excludes Class I telomeres). In adults, TL averaged over the whole dis

SUBMITTER: Atema E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6849772 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature