TRB proteins in moss reveal their evolutionarily conserved roles in plant development and telomere maintenance.

ABSTRACT: Telomere repeat binding (TRB) proteins are plant-specific proteins with a unique domain structure distinct from telomerebinding proteins in animals and yeast. While extensively studied in seed plants, their role in early-diverging plant lineages remains largely unexplored. Here, we investigate TRB proteins in a model moss, Physcomitrium patens, to assess their evolutionary conservation and functional significance. Functional analysis using single knockout mutants revealed that individual PpTRB genes are essential for normal development, with mutants exhibiting defects in the two-dimensional (protonemal) stage, and more prominently, in the formation of three-dimensional (gametophore) structures. Some double mutants displayed telomere shortening, a phenotype also observed in TRB-deficient se

SUBMITTER: Kusova A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12616469 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature