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Chromosome Ends in Chironomus Tentans Do Not Have Long Single-Stranded Overhangs Characterizing Canonical Telomeres

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Abstract

Single-stranded overhangs of the G-rich strand belong to the conserved features of telomeres composed of short telomeric repeats. These structures are thought to be essential for the maintenance of proper telomeric structure and function and the mechanism of their generation is telomerase-independent. We have examined the presence of single-stranded overhangs in Chironomus tentans, a dipteran insect lacking canonical telomeres that uses 350-bp repeats to terminate its chromosomes. Using a non-denaturing in-gel hybridization technique, we found that C. tentans telomeres are unlikely to have single-stranded overhangs longer than 30 nt found in most other higher eukaryotes. These differences might reflect special capping mechanisms for telomeres terminated with long complex repeats.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics, Lund University, S-22362, Lund, Sweden

    Monika Rosén

  2. Karolinska Institute, CMB, Medical Nobel Institute, Box 285, S-17177, Stockholm, Sweden

    Jan-Erik Edström

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  1. Monika Rosén
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  2. Jan-Erik Edström
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Rosén, M., Edström, JE. Chromosome Ends in Chironomus Tentans Do Not Have Long Single-Stranded Overhangs Characterizing Canonical Telomeres. Chromosome Res 10, 21–31 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014257808705

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