Objective
"EVOTELOX seeks to examine the extent to which environmentally driven variations in early life nutrition influences oxidative status and telomere loss in vivo, and thereby the costs and benefits of different life history trajectories. Despite the promising role of telomere biology in understanding the biology of life spam, currently little is known about factor that affect telomere dynamics in natural systems and whether telomere dynamics during early life may constraint life history traits. The main objectives of this project are to (1) examine the effect of dietary antioxidants on oxidative status and telomere loss of Zebra finches during their early development and (2) investigate the effect of early life nutrition and telomere dynamics on sexual maturation and reproduction during adulthood. We will use a multidisciplinary approach, combining ‘state of the art’ techniques in evolutionary biology, gerontology and ecophysiology to quantify telomere length and the level of oxidative stress in addition to manipulative experiments. The ultimate aim of this study is establishing sustainable collaboration between the host institute and fellow for the future researches in the fellow’s country of origin. We will continue cooperation to obtain advanced expertise on model systems and physiology of life history trade-offs."
Fields of science
Topic(s)
Call for proposal
FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF
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Funding Scheme
MC-IEF - Intra-European Fellowships (IEF)Coordinator
G12 8QQ Glasgow
United Kingdom