Rayner Jack G, Marshall Abigail, Adams Danielle M, Kaiser Jillian, Armenta Katherine, Wilkinson Gerald S
Department of Biology University of Maryland College Park Maryland USA.
Ecol Evol. 2025 May 14;15(5):e71378. doi: 10.1002/ece3.71378. eCollection 2025 May.
Telomeres, protective caps at the ends of linear chromosomes, are frequently found to shorten with age. Telomere length is commonly measured in wild populations to investigate age-related changes in somatic integrity and is considered a hallmark of ageing. Despite interest, there is no clear picture regarding sex differences in telomere length or rate of attrition across species. Bats are of considerable interest in studies of ageing and telomeres, owing to their remarkable longevity and the absence of age-associated telomere attrition observed in some species. Additionally, multiple bat species show evidence of sex differences in longevity. However, few studies of bat telomeres have included both sexes. We collected DNA from wild-caught males and females of the highly polygynous greater spear-nosed bat, , in which mortality is strongly male-biased, and measured relative telomere lengths. We found that, while telomeres were shorter in older bats, there was no evidence of shorter telomeres in males. In fact, males tended to have longer telomeres. This runs counter to our prediction of shorter telomeres in the shorter-lived sex but is not completely unexpected in light of other observations, including that of shorter telomeres in longer lived species.
端粒是线性染色体末端的保护性帽状结构，常被发现会随着年龄增长而缩短。在野生种群中，通常会测量端粒长度，以研究与年龄相关的体细胞完整性变化，端粒长度被视为衰老的一个标志。尽管人们对此很感兴趣，但关于端粒长度或不同物种间损耗率的性别差异，目前尚无清晰的认识。由于蝙蝠具有显著的长寿特性，且在某些物种中未观察到与年龄相关的端粒损耗，因此蝙蝠在衰老和端粒研究中备受关注。此外，多种蝙蝠物种显示出寿命存在性别差异的证据。然而，很少有关于蝙蝠端粒的研究涵盖了雌雄两性。我们从野生捕获的高度一夫多妻制的大矛鼻蝠的雄性和雌性个体中收集了DNA，该物种的死亡率存在强烈的雄性偏向，并测量了相对端粒长度。我们发现，虽然年龄较大的蝙蝠端粒较短，但没有证据表明雄性的端粒更短。事实上，雄性的端粒往往更长。这与我们对寿命较短的性别中端粒较短的预测相悖，但鉴于其他观察结果，包括寿命较长的物种中端粒较短的情况，这也并非完全出乎意料。
