Telomeres belong to the key functional elements of eukaryotic chromosomes. Like all the other parts of the genome, they exist and function as complexes of DNA with histones and various nonhistone proteins, including specific telomere-binding proteins. Studies of telomeric chromatin have shown on the one hand a lack of nucleosome positioning and on the other hand a specific nucleosome spacing as revealed by micrococcal nuclease digestion. Based on these properties and on accumulated experimental data, we present a model for a columnar packing of nucleosomes in telomeric chromatin.

Institute of Biophysics Czech Academy of Sciences Department of Functional Genomics and Proteomics Masaryk University Brno Kralovopolská 135 Brno CZ 61265 Czech Republic

References provided by Crossref.org

Telomeres and Their Neighbors

Telomeres in Plants and Humans: Not So Different, Not So Similar

Telomere- and Telomerase-Associated Proteins and Their Functions in the Plant Cell

Hypomethylating drugs efficiently decrease cytosine methylation in telomeric DNA and activate telomerase without affecting telomere lengths in tobacco cells

Dysfunction of chromatin assembly factor 1 induces shortening of telomeres and loss of 45S rDNA in Arabidopsis thaliana

Role of alternative telomere lengthening unmasked in telomerase knock-out mutant plants

Telomeres in evolution and evolution of telomeres

Characterization of telomere-subtelomere junctions in Silene latifolia

Tiptoeing to chromosome tips: facts, promises and perils of today's human telomere biology

Transition between two forms of heterochromatin at plant subtelomeres