Date of Award

2018

Publisher

North Dakota State University

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Awarded

Master of Science (MS)

Program

Biological Sciences

Department

Biological Sciences

College

Science and Mathematics

Faculty Advisor

Heidinger, Britt

Description

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.

Rights

NDSU Policy 190.6.2

Rights Link

https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf

Handle Identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/10365/28725

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