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Plant Cytogenetics pp 143–191Cite as

Plant Telomeres

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Part of the book series: Plant Genetics and Genomics: Crops and Models ((PGG,volume 4))

Abstract

Most plant chromosomes terminate in an array of 7-bp DNA repeats (TTTAGGG). DNA-binding proteins associate with this repeat to form a protective nucleoprotein cap termed the telomere, an essential role of which is to prevent chromosome ends from being joined by double-strand break-repair mechanisms. The telomere repeat array (TRA) is highly dynamic. It is extended by telomerase, an enzyme that synthesizes additional telomere repeats, and it is shortened by incomplete replication during S phase, recombination, and other factors. From the starting point of the mammalian model of telomere structure, several proteins that may interact with telomeric DNA and that are important for forming a functional telomere have been identified in plants. Also, additional components of the Arabidopsis telomerase holoenzyme have been found. In many species, arrays of longer satellite sequences are located adjacent to the TRAs, and such arrays have been used as cytological tools to identify chromosomes in several grass species. Transgenic introduction of TRAs can lead to formation of a functional telomere and loss of the distal chromosomal segment. This technology has the potential to allow manipulation of plant chromosomes.

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Abbreviations

ALT:

Alternative lengthening of telomeres

ChIP:

Chromatin immunoprecipitation

co-FISH:

Chromosome orientation FISH

DBD:

DNA-binding domain

EMSAs:

Electrophoretic mobility-shift assays

FISH:

Fluorescence in situ hybridization

NHEJ:

Nonhomologous end joining

OB-folds:

Oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide folds

SS:

Single-strand

TAS:

Telomere-associated sequence

TERT:

Telomerase reverse transcriptase

TRAP:

Telomere repeat amplification protocol

TRAs:

Telomere repeat arrays

TRD:

Telomere rapid deletion

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Acknowledgments

Research in the Shippen laboratory is funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health (GM065383) and the National Science Foundation (MCB-0349993 and MCB-0615928). Dr. Jonathan Lamb is supported by a Ruth L. Kirchstein National Research Service postdoctoral fellowship award from the National Institutes of Health (F32GM080005). Because of the nature and scope of this chapter, we were unable to cite all relevant publications in this field, and apologize to our colleagues whose work was not discussed here.

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  1. Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, 2128 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843-2128, USA

    Jonathan C. Lamb, Eugene V. Shakirov & Dorothy E. Shippen

  2. Monsanto Corporation, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Jonathan C. Lamb

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  1. Jonathan C. Lamb
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  2. Eugene V. Shakirov
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Correspondence to Dorothy E. Shippen .

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  1. Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA

    Hank W. Bass

  2. Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA

    James A. Birchler

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Lamb, J.C., Shakirov, E.V., Shippen, D.E. (2012). Plant Telomeres. In: Bass, H., Birchler, J. (eds) Plant Cytogenetics. Plant Genetics and Genomics: Crops and Models, vol 4. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-70869-0_7

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