Human-like telomeres in Zostera marina reveal a mode of transition from the plant to the human telomeric sequences
Language English Country England, Great Britain Media print
Document type Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PubMed
32589715
DOI
10.1093/jxb/eraa293
PII: 5863406
Knihovny.cz E-resources
- Keywords
- Animal telomeres, Tandem Repeats Finder, chromosome, cytogenetics, plant telomeres, telomerase RNA, telomere template,
- MeSH
- Genome, Plant MeSH
- In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Base Sequence MeSH
- Telomere * genetics MeSH
- Zosteraceae * MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
A previous study describing the genome of Zostera marina, the most widespread seagrass in the Northern hemisphere, revealed some genomic signatures of adaptation to the aquatic environment such as the loss of stomatal genes, while other functions such as an algal-like cell wall composition were acquired. Beyond these, the genome structure and organization were comparable with those of the majority of plant genomes sequenced, except for one striking feature that went unnoticed at that time: the presence of human-like instead of the expected plant-type telomeric sequences. By using different experimental approaches including fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), genome skimming by next-generation sequencing (NGS), and analysis of non-coding transcriptome, we have confirmed its telomeric location in the chromosomes of Z. marina. We have also identified its telomerase RNA (TR) subunit, confirming the presence of the human-type telomeric sequence in the template region. Remarkably, this region was found to be very variable even in clades with a highly conserved telomeric sequence across their species. Based on this observation, we propose that alternative annealing preferences in the template borders can explain the transition between the plant and human telomeric sequences. The further identification of paralogues of TR in several plant genomes led us to the hypothesis that plants may retain an increased ability to change their telomeric sequence. We discuss the implications of this occurrence in the evolution of telomeres while introducing a mechanistic model for the transition from the plant to the human telomeric sequences.
Institut Botànic de Barcelona Passeig del Migdia s n Barcelona Catalonia Spain
Mendel Centre for Plant Genomics and Proteomics CEITEC Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic
References provided by Crossref.org
TeloBase: a community-curated database of telomere sequences across the tree of life
Identification of the Sequence and the Length of Telomere DNA
Telomerase RNA in Hymenoptera (Insecta) switched to plant/ciliate-like biogenesis
Telomeric DNA sequences in beetle taxa vary with species richness
Origin and Fates of TERT Gene Copies in Polyploid Plants
