Journal
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
Volume 563, Issue -, Pages 125-130Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.04.096
Keywords
Seabirds; Svalbard; Contaminants; Organochlorines; PCBs; DNA
Categories
Funding
- Institut Polaire Francais (IPEV project) [330, 2012 R03]
- Agence National de la Recherche (ANR) [ANR 10 CESA 0016]
- Research Council of Norway (AVITOX) [234423]
- University of La Rochelle
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) [ANR-10-CESA-0016] Funding Source: Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR)
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Telomeres are DNA-protein complexes located at the end of chromosomes, which play an important role in maintaining the genomic integrity. Telomeres shorten at each cell division and previous studies have shown that telomere length is related to health and lifespan and can be affected by a wide range of environmental factors. Among them, some persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have the potential to damage DNA. However, the effect of POPs on telomeres is poorly known for wildlife. Here, we investigated the relationships between some legacy POPs (organochlorine pesticides and polychlorobiphenyls) and telomere length in breeding adult black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla), an arctic seabird species. Our results show that among legacy POPs, only blood concentration of oxychlordane, the major metabolite of chlordane mixture, is associated with shorter telomere length in females but not in males. This suggests that female kittiwakes could be more sensitive to oxychlordane, potentially explaining the previously reported lower survival rate in most oxychlordane-contaminated kittiwakes from the same population. This study is the first to report a significant and negative relationship between POPs and telomere length in a free-living bird and highlights sex-related susceptibility to banned pesticides. (c) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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