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Induction and Validation of Cellular Senescence in Primary Human Cells
Published on: June 20, 2018
Age, stage and senescence in plants.
Hal Caswell1, Roberto Salguero-Gómez
1Biology Department MS-34, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA ; Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research Rostock, 18057, Germany.
The Journal of Ecology
|June 7, 2013
Summary
Plant senescence, the decline with age, is challenged by new models. Stage- and age-dependence in plants create selection pressures that can slow senescence, unlike in animals.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Demography
- Plant Ecology
Background:
- Senescence, a decline in function with age, is a widespread biological phenomenon.
- Traditional theories focus on age-dependent selection gradients, assuming selection pressure decreases with age.
- Plant demography, characterized by stage- and size-dependence, may alter evolutionary conclusions about senescence.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a theoretical model incorporating both age and stage dependence in plant demography.
- To derive age-dependent, stage-dependent, and age × stage-dependent selection gradients on mortality and fertility.
- To investigate how these complex selection pressures influence the evolution of senescence in plants.
Main Methods:
- Developed a novel demographic model integrating age and stage structure.
- Derived mathematical expressions for selection gradients considering age and stage interactions.
- Applied the model to stage-classified population projection matrices from 36 diverse plant species.
Main Results:
- Identified 'contra-senescent' selection gradients where selection pressure increases with age within certain life stages.
- Observed that these contra-senescent gradients can persist for durations exceeding several times the life expectancy in later plant stages.
- Demonstrated that the interplay of age and stage dependence creates distinct selection pressures compared to purely age-classified models.
Conclusions:
- The interaction of age and stage dependence in plants fundamentally alters selection pressures on senescence.
- This finding may explain why large, long-lived plants appear less susceptible to senescence than many animals.
- The presented methods offer a framework for improved demographic analysis of age- and stage-dependent plant populations.
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