Mechanisms of age-related change in performance in a wild social bird: parental age effects, cellular senescence, and dominance acquisition
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
Department Name: Biosciences
Abstract
Humans and wild animals typically show late-life declines in fitness and health, a phenomenon known
as senescence. The causes of these age-related declines are now a key focus of research in
evolutionary biology and biomedicine. While most work to date has focussed on the plight of
individuals as they age, it is fast becoming clear that a major component of senescence arises from
trans-generational effects of the age of parents on the fitness of their offspring. However, the relative
importance of maternal and paternal age effects and the mechanisms that generate them remain
poorly understood. This is significant, given the key role that parental age effects may play in
generating individual variation in health and ageing trajectories in both human and wild animal
populations.
This project will provide the first test of the role that telomeres (nucleoprotein complexes that
preserve chromosomal integrity) play in generating parental age effects in a wild vertebrate. While
research on humans and wild vertebrates has highlighted the potential for parental age effects on
offspring telomere lengths, comprehensive field studies of these effects have yet to be conducted.
This project will combine longitudinal field research on an established study population of wild birds
in the Kalahari desert (the white-browed sparrow weaver; Plocepasser mahali) with cutting edge
laboratory analyses of telomere length and statistical modelling of existing life-history, behavioural
and genetic data sets to investigate: (i) maternal and paternal age effects on offspring telomeres, (ii)
the extent to which these can be attributed to age effects on parental investment or gamete telomere
lengths, and (iii) the extent to which parental age effects on offspring telomeres can account for
parental age effects on offspring fitness.
as senescence. The causes of these age-related declines are now a key focus of research in
evolutionary biology and biomedicine. While most work to date has focussed on the plight of
individuals as they age, it is fast becoming clear that a major component of senescence arises from
trans-generational effects of the age of parents on the fitness of their offspring. However, the relative
importance of maternal and paternal age effects and the mechanisms that generate them remain
poorly understood. This is significant, given the key role that parental age effects may play in
generating individual variation in health and ageing trajectories in both human and wild animal
populations.
This project will provide the first test of the role that telomeres (nucleoprotein complexes that
preserve chromosomal integrity) play in generating parental age effects in a wild vertebrate. While
research on humans and wild vertebrates has highlighted the potential for parental age effects on
offspring telomere lengths, comprehensive field studies of these effects have yet to be conducted.
This project will combine longitudinal field research on an established study population of wild birds
in the Kalahari desert (the white-browed sparrow weaver; Plocepasser mahali) with cutting edge
laboratory analyses of telomere length and statistical modelling of existing life-history, behavioural
and genetic data sets to investigate: (i) maternal and paternal age effects on offspring telomeres, (ii)
the extent to which these can be attributed to age effects on parental investment or gamete telomere
lengths, and (iii) the extent to which parental age effects on offspring telomeres can account for
parental age effects on offspring fitness.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Andrew Young (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Antony Brown (Student) |
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BB/M009122/1 | 01/10/2015 | 31/03/2024 | |||
| 1921195 | Studentship | BB/M009122/1 | 01/10/2017 | 26/02/2022 | Antony Brown |
| Description | We have been investigating the effects of parental age on offspring telomere lengths in a natural population of white-browed sparrow weavers (Plocepasser mahali). There have been few longitudinal studies to date investigating the effects of within-individual changes in parental age on offspring telomere lengths, and these have found evidence that offspring telomere lengths shorten with advancing parental age. In contrast to these previous studies, we have found evidence for a positive effect of advancing parental age (within individual parents) on the telomere lengths of their offspring. To our knowledge, this is the first time such a relationship has been demonstrated. |
| Exploitation Route | The award is still active and I will continue to work towards my PhD thesis. Due to the shared telomere biology among vertebrate taxa, our findings may be relevant to other species. As such, the outcomes of this funding have the potential to be applied to the conservation of threatened animal populations. For example, refining conservation management strategies (e.g. reintroductions, translocations, captive breeding) to take into account the effects of age at reproduction on offspring health and survival. |
| Sectors | Environment |