In this seminar, I will begin by discussing the mechanisms of ageing, with a particular focus on telomeres. Specifically, I will examine how different environmental conditions during pre-and post-natal development affect telomere length and dynamics in the yellow-legged gull, Larus michahellis. I will present results from our recent studies investigating the role of maternal glucocorticoids, exposure to prenatal social stressors (e.g. predation risk) and microbiome development in influencing postnatal telomere dynamics and telomere repair mechanisms. For example, our results suggest that mothers can increase telomere length in their offspring by moderately increasing the amount of glucocorticoids (i.e. corticosterone) in their eggs. However, complementary evidence suggests that endogenous glucocorticoid production in response to stressors, such as predation risk, comes at the cost of loss of telomere length. I will also show how the development of the gut microbiome early in life is related to telomere length in the early postnatal period. In the second part of the seminar, I will focus on a different animal model, the Mediterranean field cricket, Gryllus bimaculatus. I will use this invertebrate species to illustrate the links between sex, plasticity and ageing. I will highlight several examples of how the adult sociosexual environment can induce plasticity in the allocation strategies between traits under pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection, and the implications of such changes for lifespan and ageing rates.
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