ArticlePhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2018
Experimental manipulation of telomere length: does it reveal a corner-stone role for telomerase in the natural variability of individual fitness?
Article in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 47 citations in OpenAlex.
- Research Progress on Telomerase Activity Assays: From Traditional Methods to Novel Technologies.ACS omega · 2026Review
- Why and when should organisms elongate their telomeres? Elaborations on the 'excess resources elongation' and 'last resort elongation' hypotheses.Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- Longitudinal telomere dynamics within natural lifespans of a wild bird.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Seasonal variation in telomerase activity and telomere dynamics in a hibernating rodent, the garden dormouse (Frontiers in physiology · 2023Article
- Transmissible cancer and longitudinal telomere dynamics in Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii).Molecular ecology · 2022Article
- Maternal testosterone affects offspring telomerase activity in a long-lived seabird.Ecology and evolution · 2022Article
- Seasonal variation in telomere dynamics in African striped mice.Oecologia · 2020Article
- Telomere attrition with age in a wild amphibian population.Biology letters · 2020Article
- Telomere attrition predicts reduced survival in a wild social bird, but short telomeres do not.Molecular ecology · 2019Article
- Breeders that receive help age more slowly in a cooperatively breeding bird.Nature communications · 2019Article
- The fetal programming of telomere biology hypothesis: an update.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2018Review
- Comparison of telomere length measurement methods.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2018Review
- The role of telomeres in the mechanisms and evolution of life-history trade-offs and ageing.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2018Review
- Understanding diversity in telomere dynamics.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2018Article
- The rate of telomere loss is related to maximum lifespan in birds.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2018Article
- Review
- Why are there associations between telomere length and behaviour?Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2018Article
- Characterization in humans ofPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Telomeres, the non-coding ends of linear chromosomes, are thought to be an important mechanism of individual variability in performance. Research suggests that longer telomeres are indicative of better health and increased fitness; however, many of these data are correlational and whether these effects are causal are poorly understood. Experimental tests are emerging in medical and laboratory-based studies, but these types of experiments are rare in natural populations, which precludes conclusions at an evolutionary level. At the crossroads between telomere length and fitness is telomerase, an enzyme that can lengthen telomeres. Experimental modulation of telomerase activity is a powerful tool to manipulate telomere length, and to look at the covariation of telomerase, telomeres and individual life-history traits. Here, we review studies that manipulate telomerase activity in laboratory conditions and emphasize the associated physiological and fitness consequences. We then discuss how telomerase's impact on ageing may go beyond telomere maintenance. Based on this overview, we then propose several research avenues for future studies to explore how individual variability in health, reproduction and survival may have coevolved with different patterns of telomerase activity and expression. Such knowledge is of prime importance to fully understand the role that telomere dynamics play in the evolution of animal ageing.This article is part of the theme issue 'Understanding diversity in telomere dynamics'.
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