Grupo de Ecoloxía Animal (GEA), Centro de Investigación Mariña, Universidade de Vigo, Vigo, Spain.
Biol Lett. 2021 Oct;17(10):20210398. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0398. Epub 2021 Oct 13.
In many animals, recent evidence indicates that the gut microbiome may be acquired during early development, with possible consequences on newborns' health. Thus, it has been hypothesized that a healthy microbiome protects telomeres and genomic integrity against cellular stress. However, the link between the early acquired microbiome and telomere dynamics has not hitherto been investigated. In birds, this link may also be potentially modulated by the transfer of maternal glucocorticoids, since these substances dysregulate microbiome composition during postnatal development. Here, we examined the effect of the interplay between the microbiome and stress hormones on the telomere length of yellow-legged gull hatchlings by using a field experiment in which we manipulated the corticosterone content in eggs. We found that the hatchling telomere length was related to microbiome composition, but this relationship was not affected by the corticosterone treatment. Hatchlings with a microbiome dominated by potential commensal bacteria (i.e. and ) had larger telomeres, suggesting that an early establishment of the species-specific microbiome during development may have important consequences on offspring health and survival.
在许多动物中，最近的证据表明，肠道微生物组可能是在早期发育过程中获得的，这可能对新生儿的健康产生影响。因此，有人假设健康的微生物组可以保护端粒和基因组完整性免受细胞应激。然而，早期获得的微生物组与端粒动力学之间的联系尚未得到研究。在鸟类中，这种联系也可能受到母体糖皮质激素转移的潜在调节，因为这些物质在产后发育过程中会使微生物组组成失调。在这里，我们通过在鸡蛋中操纵皮质酮含量的现场实验，研究了微生物组和应激激素之间的相互作用对黄腿海鸥雏鸟端粒长度的影响。我们发现，雏鸟的端粒长度与微生物组组成有关，但这种关系不受皮质酮处理的影响。以潜在共生菌（即 和 ）为主导的微生物组的雏鸟具有更长的端粒，这表明在发育过程中早期建立物种特异性微生物组可能对后代的健康和生存产生重要影响。
