Subtelomeric elements provide stability to short telomeres in telomerase-negative cells of the budding yeast Naumovozyma castellii.

ABSTRACT: Telomerase plays an important role in sustaining eukaryotic linear chromosomes, as elongation of telomeres is needed to counterbalance the shortening occurring in each replication round. Nevertheless, in telomerase-deficient cells, Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT) pathways can maintain telomeres by employing recombination-based mechanisms. In the budding yeast Naumovozyma castellii, effective activation of the ALT pathway leads to bypass of senescence and supports long-term growth. We found that telomere structures in N. castellii ALT cells are stably maintained at a shortened uniform length over extensive numbers of generations. This is correlated to the spreading of a subtelomeric sequence, TelKO element, to all telomeres. Genome sequencing of the wild-type strain revealed vari

SUBMITTER: Jaiswal RK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12408736 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature