Telomere length reflects individual quality in free-living adult king penguins

• Published in: Polar Biology
• Main Authors: Le Vaillant, Maryline, Viblanc, Vincent A., Saraux, Claire, Le Bohec, Céline, Le Maho, Yvon, Kato, Akiko, Criscuolo, François, Ropert‐coudert, Yan
• Other Authors: Stockholm University, Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie (DEPE-IPHC), Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC), Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud )-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), MARine Biodiversity Exploitation and Conservation (UMR MARBEC), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre Scientifique de Monaco (CSM), Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences Oslo, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Oslo, University of Oslo (UiO)-University of Oslo (UiO)-Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Oslo, University of Oslo (UiO)-University of Oslo (UiO), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), IPEV (programme 137);Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco;Fondation des Treilles;AXA Research Fund, ANR-10-BLAN-1728,PICASO,Les manchots bio-indicateurs de la vulnérabilité de l'Océan austral(2010), European Project: 235962,EC:FP7:PEOPLE,FP7-PEOPLE-IEF-2008,EVOLBIRD(2010)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2015
• Subjects: Breeding performances; long-lived seabird; natural antibody level; body condition; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Arctic; King Penguins; Polar Biology
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-01183603; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1766-0

International audience Growing evidence suggests that telomeres,non-coding DNA sequences that shorten with age andstress, are related in an undefined way to individualbreeding performances and survival rates in several species.Short telomeres and elevated shortening rates aretypically associated with life stress and low health. Assuch, telomeres could serve as an integrative proxy ofindividual quality, describing the overall biological state ofan individual at a given age. Telomere length could beassociated with the decline of an array of physiologicaltraits in age-controlled individuals. Here, we investigatedthe links between individuals’ relative telomere length,breeding performance and various physiological (bodycondition, natural antibody levels) and life history (age,past breeding success) parameters in a long-lived seabirdspecies, the king penguin Aptenodytes patagonicus. Whilewe observed no link between relative telomere length andage, we found that birds with longer telomeres arrivedearlier for breeding at the colony, and had higher breedingperformances (i.e. the amount of time adults managed tomaintain their chicks alive, and ultimately breeding success)than individuals with shorter telomeres. Further, weobserved a positive correlation between telomere lengthand natural antibody levels. Taken together, our results addto the growing evidence that telomere length is likely toreflect individual quality difference in wild animal.