{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]],"date-time":"2026-07-15T07:04:04Z","timestamp":1784099044147,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":60,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]],"date-time":"2026-07-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784073600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Aging"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Sex differences in ageing rate and longevity are widespread across animals, but their molecular bases remain poorly understood. Ageing involves multiple hallmarks of functional decline, and experimental studies suggest sex-specific differences in gene expression, particularly in immune, metabolic, and mitochondrial pathways. Yet, transcriptional variation associated with sex and age in natural populations remains largely unexplored.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Here, we present the first RNA-seq study of a free-living bird, the Scopoli\u2019s shearwater (\n                      <jats:italic>Calonectris diomedea<\/jats:italic>\n                      ), aimed at investigating sex differences in gene expression across age classes, comparing younger and older individuals of both sexes (16 males and 16 females).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We identified a sex-linked transcriptional signature involving genes associated with immune function, stress response, energetics, and development. Age-related reductions in energy metabolism were more pronounced in females, whereas the strongest sex-related differences were detected in immune function and genome stability pathways. Across age classes, males showed higher expression of genes involved in DNA repair and genome maintenance, while females displayed a shift from immune-related processes in early adulthood to stress-response pathways in late adulthood.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Together, these findings reveal pronounced sex-biased transcriptional regulation across age classes, which we hypothesise is driven by the differentiation of sex-specific reproductive strategies during the egg-laying phase. Furthermore, our results indicate sustained investment in somatic maintenance into late adulthood, consistent with patterns typically observed in long-lived species.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fragi.2026.1880546","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]],"date-time":"2026-07-15T06:05:38Z","timestamp":1784095538000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Transcriptome analysis of ageing in a long-lived seabird reveals sex-specific differences across age classes in immune and DNA repair pathways"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"7","author":[{"given":"Beatrice","family":"Berardi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology and Ecology, University of Tuscia","place":["Viterbo, Italy"]},{"name":"Ornis Italica","place":["Rome, Italy"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Giacomo","family":"Dell'Omo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ornis Italica","place":["Rome, Italy"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"David","family":"Costantini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology and Ecology, University of Tuscia","place":["Viterbo, Italy"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1334862","DOI":"10.3389\/fnmol.2024.1334862","article-title":"Aging differentially alters the transcriptome and landscape of chromatin accessibility in the male and female mouse hippocampus","volume":"17","author":"Achiro","year":"2024","journal-title":"Front. 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