![Sample our Bioscience journals, sign in here to start your access, Latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5925/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Bioscience.jpg"})
Abstract
Xu, M., Wu, X-B., Yan, P. and Zhu, H. 2009. Telomere length shortens with age in Chinese alligators (Alligator sinensis). J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 109–112.
A fundamental observation of replicative senescence is the telomere shortening in many species. The objective of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the length of the telomeric DNA and the age of the Chinese alligator, as well as to offer a molecular approach to determine the age of this species. To that end, the Southern Blot method was used in this paper to analyze the telometric DNA of Chinese alligators from three age groups. The results showed that telomere lengths of erythrocytes have a significant variance among individuals (P<0.0001). In addition, the results demonstrated that, for Chinese alligators, telomere lengths greatly decrease with the increasing age.