Abstract
CHROMOSOME healing by de novo telomere addition at non-telomeric sites has been well characterized in several organisms1–9. The Tetrahymena telomerase ribonucleoprotein uses an internal RNA template to catalyse d(TTGGGG)n telomere addition to the 3′ end of telomeric sequence in vitro and in vivo10,11. Studies of telomerase RNA indicated that hybridization of the RNA template region, 5′-CAACCCCAA-3′, to the 3′ end of single-stranded telomeric oligonucleotides might be important for primer recognition and utilization10. The apparent requirement of telomerase for pre-existing telomeric sequence has raised questions regarding its role in chromosome healing12,13. We report here that Tetrahymena telomerase can specifically elongate single-stranded DNA oligonucleotides whose termini are not complementary to the RNA template sequence 5′-CAACCCCAA-3′. These data suggest that telomerase may be able to heal chromosomes directly in vivo.
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Harrington, L., Harrington, L. Telomerase primer specificity and chromosome healing. Nature 353, 451–454 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1038/353451a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/353451a0
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