Contribution of telomerase RNA retrotranscription to DNA double-strand break repair during mammalian genome evolution.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In vertebrates, tandem arrays of TTAGGG hexamers are present at both telomeres and intrachromosomal sites (interstitial telomeric sequences (ITSs)). We previously showed that, in primates, ITSs were inserted during the repair of DNA double-strand breaks and proposed that they could arise from either the capture of telomeric fragments or the action of telomerase.

Results

An extensive comparative analysis of two primate (Homo sapiens and Pan troglodytes) and two rodent (Mus musculus and Rattus norvegicus) genomes allowed us to describe organization and insertion mechanisms of all the informative ITSs present in the four species. Two novel observations support the hypothesis of telomerase involvement in ITS insertion: in a highly significant fraction of informative l

SUBMITTER: Nergadze SG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2246262 | biostudies-literature | 2007

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature