| dc.description.abstract | Telomere dynamics in blood cells have been linked to aging in a variety of organisms. However, whether blood telomeres correlated with telomeres in other parts of the body is not well known, especially during early life when telomere loss is expected to be most rapid. We investigated this question in embryonic and juvenile Franklin’s gulls (Leucophaeus pipixcan). We measured telomere lengths in blood, heart, liver and skeletal muscle tissues at the end of embryonic (n = 31) and post-natal development (n=20). In late-stage embryos, blood telomeres were significantly positively correlated with heart and skeletal muscle, but not liver telomeres. However, at the end of post-natal development, there were no significant correlations among blood telomeres and telomeres in any other tissues. In late-stage embryos, heart telomeres were significantly longer than blood, liver, and skeletal muscle telomeres, but at the end of post-natal development telomere lengths did not significantly differ among tissues. | en_US |
