Pseudoknot structures with conserved base triples in telomerase RNAs of ciliates.

ABSTRACT: Telomerase maintains the integrity of telomeres, the ends of linear chromosomes, by adding G-rich repeats to their 3'-ends. Telomerase RNA is an integral component of telomerase. It contains a template for the synthesis of the telomeric repeats by the telomerase reverse transcriptase. Although telomerase RNAs of different organisms are very diverse in their sequences, a functional non-template element, a pseudoknot, was predicted in all of them. Pseudoknot elements in human and the budding yeast Kluyveromyces lactis telomerase RNAs contain unusual triple-helical segments with AUU base triples, which are critical for telomerase function. Such base triples in ciliates have not been previously reported. We analyzed the pseudoknot sequences in 28 ciliate species and classified them in six diff

SUBMITTER: Ulyanov NB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2094054 | biostudies-literature | 2007

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature