Wing: A suitable nonlethal tissue type for repeatable and rapid telomere length estimates in bats
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Wing : A suitable nonlethal tissue type for repeatable and rapid telomere length estimates in bats. / Power, Megan L.; Power, Sarahjane; Bertelsen, Mads F.; Jones, Gareth; Teeling, Emma C.
I: Molecular Ecology Resources, Bind 21, Nr. 2, 2021, s. 421-432.Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Wing
T2 - A suitable nonlethal tissue type for repeatable and rapid telomere length estimates in bats
AU - Power, Megan L.
AU - Power, Sarahjane
AU - Bertelsen, Mads F.
AU - Jones, Gareth
AU - Teeling, Emma C.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Telomeres are used increasingly in ecology and evolution as biomarkers for ageing and environmental stress, and are typically measured from DNA extracted from nonlethally sampled blood. However, obtaining blood is not always possible in field conditions and only limited amounts can be taken from small mammals, such as bats, which moreover lack nucleated red blood cells and hence yield relatively low amounts of DNA. As telomere length can vary within species according to age and tissue, it is important to determine which tissues serve best as a representation of the organism as a whole. Here, we investigated whether wing tissue biopsies, a rapid and relatively noninvasive tissue collection method, could serve as a proxy for other tissues when measuring relative telomere length (rTL) in the Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus). Telomeres were measured from blood, brain, heart, kidney, liver lung, muscle and wing, and multiple wing biopsies were taken from the same individuals to determine intra-individual repeatability of rTL measured by using qPCR. Wing rTL correlated with rTL estimates from most tissues apart from blood. Blood rTL was not significantly correlated with rTL from any other tissue. Blood and muscle rTLs were significantly longer compared with other tissues, while lung displayed the shortest rTLs. Individual repeatability of rTL measures from wing tissue was high (>70%). Here we show the relationships between tissue telomere dynamics for the first time in a bat, and our results provide support for the use of wing tissue for rTL measurements.
AB - Telomeres are used increasingly in ecology and evolution as biomarkers for ageing and environmental stress, and are typically measured from DNA extracted from nonlethally sampled blood. However, obtaining blood is not always possible in field conditions and only limited amounts can be taken from small mammals, such as bats, which moreover lack nucleated red blood cells and hence yield relatively low amounts of DNA. As telomere length can vary within species according to age and tissue, it is important to determine which tissues serve best as a representation of the organism as a whole. Here, we investigated whether wing tissue biopsies, a rapid and relatively noninvasive tissue collection method, could serve as a proxy for other tissues when measuring relative telomere length (rTL) in the Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus). Telomeres were measured from blood, brain, heart, kidney, liver lung, muscle and wing, and multiple wing biopsies were taken from the same individuals to determine intra-individual repeatability of rTL measured by using qPCR. Wing rTL correlated with rTL estimates from most tissues apart from blood. Blood rTL was not significantly correlated with rTL from any other tissue. Blood and muscle rTLs were significantly longer compared with other tissues, while lung displayed the shortest rTLs. Individual repeatability of rTL measures from wing tissue was high (>70%). Here we show the relationships between tissue telomere dynamics for the first time in a bat, and our results provide support for the use of wing tissue for rTL measurements.
KW - bats
KW - relative telomere length
KW - Rousettus aegyptiacus
KW - telomeres
KW - tissues
U2 - 10.1111/1755-0998.13276
DO - 10.1111/1755-0998.13276
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 33049101
AN - SCOPUS:85096681391
VL - 21
SP - 421
EP - 432
JO - Molecular Ecology
JF - Molecular Ecology
SN - 0962-1083
IS - 2
ER -
ID: 282939063