Telomere Length Shortens with Body Length in Alligator mississippiensis

In Alligator mississippiensis (American Alligator), body length increases with age, but body length can be used as an accurate estimator of age only up to about 6–7 years, when growth rates slow considerably. Telomeres are repetitive DNA sequences that cap the ends of each chromosome. Telomeres shorten with age in most animals, but telomere shortening has not been examined in reptiles. We measured telomere length in erythrocytes of A. mississippiensis varying between ≈ 5 and 240 cm in body length and found a negative relationship between telomere length and body length (P < 0.01). Assuming that erythrocyte telomeres continue to shorten with time, even after growth rate declines, those individuals with the shortest telomeres should be the oldest members of the population. This method of estimating age, even in animals of similar body size, should allow questions about age structure and senescence to be addressed. Disciplines Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology | Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology | Zoology Comments This article is from Southeastern Naturalist 5 (2006); 685, doi: 10.1656/ 1528-7092(2006)5[685:TLSWBL]2.0.CO;2. Posted with permission. Rights Further reproduction or distribution, either in whole or in part, except for personal research purposes, is prohibited without the written consent of the publisher, Eagle Hill Institute. This article is available at Iowa State University Digital Repository: http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/eeob_las_pubs/17 BioOne sees sustainable scholarly publishing as an inherently collaborative enterprise connecting authors, nonprofit publishers, academic institutions, research libraries, and research funders in the common goal of maximizing access to critical research. Telomere Length Shortens with Body Length in Alligator mississippiensis Author(s): Nicole M. Scott, Mark F. Haussmann, Ruth M. Elsey, Phillip L. Trosclair III, and Carol M. Vleck Source: Southeastern Naturalist, 5(4):685-692. Published By: Eagle Hill Institute DOI: http:// dx.doi.org/10.1656/1528-7092(2006)5[685:TLSWBL]2.0.CO;2 URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/ full/10.1656/1528-7092%282006%295%5B685%3ATLSWBL %5D2.0.CO%3B2 BioOne (www.bioone.org) is a nonprofit, online aggregation of core research in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences. BioOne provides a sustainable online platform for over 170 journals and books published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses. Your use of this PDF, the BioOne Web site, and all posted and associated content indicates your acceptance of BioOne’s Terms of Use, available at www.bioone.org/page/terms_of_use. Usage of BioOne content is strictly limited to personal, educational, and non-commercial use. Commercial inquiries or rights and permissions requests should be directed to the individual publisher as copyright holder. SOUTHEASTERN NATURALIST 2006 5(4):685–692 Telomere Length Shortens with Body Length in Alligator mississippiensis Nicole M. Scott, Mark F. Haussmann, Ruth M. Elsey, Phillip L. Trosclair III, and Carol M. Vleck Abstract In Alligator mississippiensis (American Alligator), body length increases with age, but body length can be used as an accurate estimator of age only up to about 6–7 years, when growth rates slow considerably. Telomeres are repetitive DNA sequences that cap the ends of each chromosome. Telomeres shorten with age in most animals, but telomere shortening has not been examined in reptiles. We measured telomere length in erythrocytes of A. mississippiensis varying between ≈ 5 and 240 cm in body length and found a negative relationship between telomere length and body length (P < 0.01). Assuming that erythrocyte telomeres continue to shorten with time, even after growth rate declines, those individuals with the shortest telomeres should be the oldest members of the population. This method of estimating age, even in animals of similar body size, should allow questions about age structure and senescence to be addressed. In Alligator mississippiensis (American Alligator), body length increases with age, but body length can be used as an accurate estimator of age only up to about 6–7 years, when growth rates slow considerably. Telomeres are repetitive DNA sequences that cap the ends of each chromosome. Telomeres shorten with age in most animals, but telomere shortening has not been examined in reptiles. We measured telomere length in erythrocytes of A. mississippiensis varying between ≈ 5 and 240 cm in body length and found a negative relationship between telomere length and body length (P < 0.01). Assuming that erythrocyte telomeres continue to shorten with time, even after growth rate declines, those individuals with the shortest telomeres should be the oldest members of the population. This method of estimating age, even in animals of similar body size, should allow questions about age structure and senescence to be addressed.