Direct and transgenerational consequences of divergent reproductive strategies on ageing trajectories of parents and their offspring
Understanding why we age and die, and why individuals differ in their ageing trajectories remains one of the big challenges for science. REPRODAGEING uses a combination of complementary approaches and cutting-edge techniques from evolutionary biology, behavioural ecology and ecophysiology and an innovative avian life history model – Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) artificial selection lines that differ genetically in their pace of life – to quantify how divergent reproductive strategies influence individual, sex-specific and transgenerational ageing trajectories. I will use biomarkers of oxidative stress and ageing to quantify within-individual mosaics of physiological damage accumulation across somatic and reproductive tissues and test if these within-body mosaics of ageing are shaped by an individual’s life history strategy. Furthermore, I will quantify how parental physiological states at conception affect the next generation and if these transgenerational effects are shaped by the quality of the early life environment. I will be hosted at the Centre for Ecology & Conservation, University of Exeter, UK, which is one of the leading departments for evolutionary whole-organism research in Europe. The host complements my own research strengths in an ideal way, ensuring a successful implementation of the project, and allowing me to develop my research profile. At the same time, I will enhance the host’s expertise and capacity in ecophysiological research. Thus, this fellowship will enhance my skills and career prospects through a two-way transfer of knowledge. REPRODAGEING is highly relevant for fundamental evolutionary biology, but has also implications for biomedicine, assisted reproduction, animal breeding and wildlife conservation, and it will contribute to enhance the European science excellence and competitiveness.