The influence of phylogeny and life history on telomere lengths and telomere rate of change among bird species: A meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT: Longevity is highly variable among animal species and has coevolved with other life-history traits, such as body size and rates of reproduction. Telomeres, through their erosion over time, are one of the cell mechanisms that produce senescence at the cell level and might even have an influence on the rate of aging in whole organisms. However, uneroded telomeres are also risk factors of cell immortalization. The associations of telomere lengths, their rate of change, and life-history traits independent of body size are largely underexplored for birds. To test associations of life-history traits and telomere dynamics, we conducted a phylogenetic meta-analysis using studies of 53 species of birds. We restricted analyses to studies that applied the telomere restriction fragment length (TRF) me

SUBMITTER: Criscuolo F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8495793 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature