Abstract
Telomeric attrition has repeatedly been found to correlate with the ageing of organisms; however, recent research is increasingly showing that the determinants of attrition dynamics are not well understood. This study examined the relative telomere lengths in Eastern mosquitofish, Gambusia holbrooki, kept at different temperatures and at different ages. Newly born fry were randomly selected for one of four treatment groups: 20, 30, 20–30, and 30–20 °C, where the third and fourth treatment groups were gradually changed from their starting temperature to their final temperature between days 10 and 14. Telomere length was measured, and it was found that length decreased with age and that fish exposed to the 20 °C treatment had significantly shorter telomeres than those that received the 30–20 °C treatment. Telomeric attrition with age agrees with results previously found in studies of telomeres; however, the variation in attrition with temperature was not simply predictable and may be the synergistic effects of temperature and some other factor.
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Acknowledgments
The Australian Research Council provided funding (to M. O.).
Ethical standards
All animal handling and experiments were conducted with the approval of the University of Sydney Animal Ethics Committee (L04/3-2008/3/4769).
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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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Communicated by: Sven Thatje
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Rollings, N., Miller, E. & Olsson, M. Telomeric attrition with age and temperature in Eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki). Naturwissenschaften 101, 241–244 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-014-1142-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-014-1142-x