Back to Search Start Over

Sex-specific changes in autosomal methylation rate in ageing common terns

Authors :
Britta Meyer
Maria Moiron
Calvinna Caswara
William Chow
Olivier Fedrigo
Giulio Formenti
Bettina Haase
Kerstin Howe
Jacquelyn Mountcastle
Marcela Uliano-Silva
Jonathan Wood
Erich Jarvis
Miriam Liedvogel
Sandra Bouwhuis
Source :
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
Publication Year :
2023

Abstract

Senescence, an age-related decline in survival and/or reproductive performance, occurs in species across the tree of life. Molecular mechanisms underlying this within-individual phenomenon are still largely unknown, but DNA methylation changes with age are among the candidates. Using a longitudinal approach, we investigated age-specific changes in autosomal methylation of common terns, relatively long-lived migratory seabirds known to show senescence. We collected blood at 1-, 3- and/or 4-year intervals, extracted DNA from the erythrocytes and estimated autosomal DNA methylation by mapping Reduced Representative Bisulfite Sequencing reads to a de novo assembled reference genome. We found autosomal methylation levels to decrease with age within females, but not males, and no evidence for selective (dis)appearance of birds of either sex in relation to their methylation level. Moreover, although we found positions in the genome to consistently vary in their methylation levels, individuals did not show such strong consistent variance. These results pave the way for studies at the level of genome features or specific positions, which should elucidate the functional consequences of the patterns observed, and how they translate to the ageing phenotype.

Details

Language :
English
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....f6aa27e301f1fa44c50edf12a8efd7f7