Dynamics of Telomeric DNA Turnover in Yeast

Genetics ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 160 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-73
Author(s):  
Michael J McEachern ◽  
Dana Hager Underwood ◽  
Elizabeth H Blackburn
Keyword(s):  
Kluyveromyces Lactis ◽  
Mutant Gene ◽  
Dna Repeats ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Telomeric Dna ◽  
Cell Divisions ◽  
Dna Turnover ◽  
Length Regulation ◽  
Turn Over

Abstract Telomerase adds telomeric DNA repeats to telomeric termini using a sequence within its RNA subunit as a template. We characterized two mutations in the Kluyveromyces lactis telomerase RNA gene (TER1) template. Each initially produced normally regulated telomeres. One mutation, ter1-AA, had a cryptic defect in length regulation that was apparent only if the mutant gene was transformed into a TER1 deletion strain to permit extensive replacement of basal wild-type repeats with mutant repeats. This mutant differs from previously studied delayed elongation mutants in a number of properties. The second mutation, TER1-Bcl, which generates a BclI restriction site in newly synthesized telomeric repeats, was indistinguishable from wild type in all phenotypes assayed: cell growth, telomere length, and in vivo telomerase fidelity. TER1-Bcl cells demonstrated that the outer halves of the telomeric repeat tracts turn over within a few hundred cell divisions, while the innermost few repeats typically resisted turnover for at least 3000 cell divisions. Similarly deep but incomplete turnover was also observed in two other TER1 template mutants with highly elongated telomeres. These results indicate that most DNA turnover in functionally normal telomeres is due to gradual replicative sequence loss and additions by telomerase but that there are other processes that also contribute to turnover.

scholarly journals Cdc13 N-Terminal Dimerization, DNA Binding, and Telomere Length Regulation

2010 ◽  
Vol 30 (22) ◽  
pp. 5325-5334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghan T. Mitchell ◽  
Jasmine S. Smith ◽  
Mark Mason ◽  
Sandy Harper ◽  
David W. Speicher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Binding ◽  
Telomere Length ◽  
Functional Characterization ◽  
Point Mutations ◽  
Telomeric Dna ◽  
Dna Binding Domains ◽  
Binding Domains ◽  
Length Regulation ◽  
Telomere Length Regulation

ABSTRACT The essential yeast protein Cdc13 facilitates chromosome end replication by recruiting telomerase to telomeres, and together with its interacting partners Stn1 and Ten1, it protects chromosome ends from nucleolytic attack, thus contributing to genome integrity. Although Cdc13 has been studied extensively, the precise role of its N-terminal domain (Cdc13N) in telomere length regulation remains unclear. Here we present a structural, biochemical, and functional characterization of Cdc13N. The structure reveals that this domain comprises an oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide binding (OB) fold and is involved in Cdc13 dimerization. Biochemical data show that Cdc13N weakly binds long, single-stranded, telomeric DNA in a fashion that is directly dependent on domain oligomerization. When introduced into full-length Cdc13 in vivo, point mutations that prevented Cdc13N dimerization or DNA binding caused telomere shortening or lengthening, respectively. The multiple DNA binding domains and dimeric nature of Cdc13 offer unique insights into how it coordinates the recruitment and regulation of telomerase access to the telomeres.

scholarly journals Interaction between transcriptional activator protein LAC9 and negative regulatory protein GAL80.

1989 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 2950-2956 ◽  
Author(s):  
J M Salmeron ◽  
S D Langdon ◽  
S A Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Transcriptional Activation ◽  
Kluyveromyces Lactis ◽  
Regulatory Protein ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Galactose Metabolism ◽  
Metabolism Regulation ◽  
Transcriptional Activator Protein ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Carboxy Terminal

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, transcriptional activation mediated by the GAL4 regulatory protein is repressed in the absence of galactose by the binding of the GAL80 protein, an interaction that requires the carboxy-terminal 28 amino acids of GAL4. The homolog of GAL4 from Kluyveromyces lactis, LAC9, activates transcription in S. cerevisiae and is highly similar to GAL4 in its carboxyl terminus but is not repressed by wild-type levels of GAL80 protein. Here we show that GAL80 does repress LAC9-activated transcription in S. cerevisiae if overproduced. We sought to determine the molecular basis for the difference in the responses of the LAC9 and GAL4 proteins to GAL80. Our results indicate that this difference is due primarily to the fact that under wild-type conditions, the level of LAC9 protein in S. cerevisiae is much higher than that of GAL4, which suggests that LAC9 escapes GAL80-mediated repression by titration of GAL80 protein in vivo. The difference in response to GAL80 is not due to amino acid sequence differences between the LAC9 and GAL4 carboxyl termini. We discuss the implications of these results for the mechanism of galactose metabolism regulation in S. cerevisiae and K. lactis.

scholarly journals Genetic Characterization of Wild-Type and Mutantfur Genes of Bordetella avium

1999 ◽  
Vol 67 (6) ◽  
pp. 3160-3165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin R. Murphy ◽  
Amy Dickenson ◽  
Kevin T. Militello ◽  
Terry D. Connell
Keyword(s):  
Copy Number ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Mutant Gene ◽  
Respiratory Pathogen ◽  
Nutritional Requirement ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Bordetella Avium ◽  
Fur Protein ◽  
Cloned Gene

ABSTRACT For most, if not all, organisms, iron (Fe) is an essential element. In response to the nutritional requirement for Fe, bacteria evolved complex systems to acquire the element from the environment. The genes encoding these systems are often coordinately regulated in response to the Fe concentration. Recent investigations revealed thatBordetella avium, a respiratory pathogen of birds, expressed a number of Fe-regulated genes (T. D. Connell, A. Dickenson, A. J. Martone, K. T. Militello, M. J. Filiatraut, M. L. Hayman, and J. Pitula, Infect. Immun. 66:3597–3605, 1998). By using manganese selection on an engineered strain of B. avium that carried an Fe-regulated alkaline phosphatase reporter gene, a mutant was obtained that was affected in expression of Fe-regulated genes. To determine if Fe-dependent regulation in B. avium was mediated by afur-like gene, a fragment of the B. aviumchromosome, corresponding to the fur locus of B. pertussis, was cloned by PCR. Sequencing revealed that the fragment from B. avium encoded a polypeptide with 92% identity to the Fur protein of B. pertussis. In vivo experiments showed that the cloned gene complemented H1780, afur mutant of Escherichia coli. Southern hybridizations and PCRs demonstrated that the manganese mutant had a deletion of 2 to 3 kbp of nucleotide sequence in the region located immediately 5′ of the fur open reading frame. A spontaneous PCR-derived mutant of the B. avium fur gene was isolated that encoded a Fur protein in which a histidine was substituted for an arginine at amino acid position 18 (R18H). Genetic analysis showed that the R18H mutant gene when cloned into a low-copy-number vector did not complement the fur mutation in H1780. However, the R18H mutant gene was able to complement the fur mutation when cloned into a high-copy-number vector. The cloned wild-typefur gene will be useful as a genetic tool to identify Fur-regulated genes in the B. avium chromosome.

scholarly journals Yeast Est2p Affects Telomere Length by Influencing Association of Rap1p with Telomeric Chromatin

2008 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 2380-2390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong Ji ◽  
Christopher J. Adkins ◽  
Bethany R. Cartwright ◽  
Katherine L. Friedman
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Telomere Length ◽  
Specific Binding ◽  
Telomerase Activity ◽  
Negative Regulator ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Telomeric Dna ◽  
Telomere Length Homeostasis

ABSTRACT In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the sequence-specific binding of the negative regulator Rap1p provides a mechanism to measure telomere length: as the telomere length increases, the binding of additional Rap1p inhibits telomerase activity in cis. We provide evidence that the association of Rap1p with telomeric DNA in vivo occurs in part by sequence-independent mechanisms. Specific mutations in EST2 (est2-LT) reduce the association of Rap1p with telomeric DNA in vivo. As a result, telomeres are abnormally long yet bind an amount of Rap1p equivalent to that observed at wild-type telomeres. This behavior contrasts with that of a second mutation in EST2 (est2-up34) that increases bound Rap1p as expected for a strain with long telomeres. Telomere sequences are subtly altered in est2-LT strains, but similar changes in est2-up34 telomeres suggest that sequence abnormalities are a consequence, not a cause, of overelongation. Indeed, est2-LT telomeres bind Rap1p indistinguishably from the wild type in vitro. Taken together, these results suggest that Est2p can directly or indirectly influence the binding of Rap1p to telomeric DNA, implicating telomerase in roles both upstream and downstream of Rap1p in telomere length homeostasis.

scholarly journals Genetic Dissection of the Kluyveromyces lactis Telomere and Evidence for Telomere Capping Defects in TER1 Mutants with Long Telomeres

2004 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 369-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana H. Underwood ◽  
Coleen Carroll ◽  
Michael J. McEachern
Keyword(s):  
Binding Site ◽  
Telomere Length ◽  
Kluyveromyces Lactis ◽  
Genetic Dissection ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Telomeric Dna ◽  
Telomeric Repeats ◽  
Functional Regions ◽  
Telomere Capping ◽  
Terminal Repeats

ABSTRACT In the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis, the telomeres are composed of perfect 25-bp repeats copied from a 30-nucleotide RNA template defined by 5-nucleotide terminal repeats. A genetic dissection of the K. lactis telomere was performed by using mutant telomerase RNA (TER1) alleles to incorporate mutated telomeric repeats. This analysis has shown that each telomeric repeat contains several functional regions, some of which may physically overlap. Mutations in the terminal repeats of the template RNA typically lead to telomere shortening, as do mutations in the right side of the Rap1p binding site. Mutations in the left half of the Rap1p binding site, however, lead to the immediate formation of long telomeres. When mutated, the region immediately 3′ of the Rap1p binding site on the TG-rich strand of the telomere leads to telomeres that are initially short but eventually undergo extreme telomere elongation. Mutations between this region and the 3′ terminal repeat cause elevated recombination despite the presence of telomeres of nearly wild-type length. Mutants with highly elongated telomeres were further characterized and exhibit signs of telomere capping defects, including elevated levels of subtelomeric recombination and the formation of extrachromosomal and single-stranded telomeric DNA. Lengthening caused by some Rap1 binding site mutations can be suppressed by high-copy-number RAP1. Mutated telomeric repeats from a delayed elongation mutant are shown to be defective at regulating telomere length in cells with wild-type telomerase, indicating that the telomeric repeats are defective at telomere length regulation.

scholarly journals The inhibition of checkpoint activation by telomeres does not involve exclusion of dimethylation of histone H4 lysine 20 (H4K20me2)

F1000Research ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 1027
Author(s):  
Julien Audry ◽  
Jinyu Wang ◽  
Jessica R. Eisenstatt ◽  
Kathleen L. Berkner ◽  
Kurt W. Runge
Keyword(s):  
Dna Damage ◽  
Protein Complexes ◽  
Dna Damage Checkpoint ◽  
Short Report ◽  
Dna Repeats ◽  
Histone H4 ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Telomeric Dna ◽  
Checkpoint Signaling ◽  
Eukaryotic Chromosome

DNA double-strand (DSBs) breaks activate the DNA damage checkpoint machinery to pause or halt the cell cycle.  Telomeres, the specific DNA-protein complexes at linear eukaryotic chromosome ends, are capped DSBs that do not activate DNA damage checkpoints.  This “checkpoint privileged” status of telomeres was previously investigated in the yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe lacking the major double-stranded telomere DNA binding protein Taz1.  Telomeric DNA repeats in cells lacking Taz1 are 10 times longer than normal and contain single-stranded DNA regions.  DNA damage checkpoint proteins associate with these damaged telomeres, but the DNA damage checkpoint is not activated.  This severing of the DNA damage checkpoint signaling pathway was reported to stem from exclusion of histone H4 lysine 20 dimethylation (H4K20me2) from telomeric nucleosomes in both wild type cells and cells lacking Taz1.  However, experiments to identify the mechanism of this exclusion failed, prompting our re-evaluation of H4K20me2 levels at telomeric chromatin.  In this short report, we used an extensive series of controls to identify an antibody specific for the H4K20me2 modification and show that the level of this modification is the same at telomeres and internal loci in both wild type cells and those lacking Taz1.  Consequently, telomeres must block activation of the DNA Damage Response by another mechanism that remains to be determined.

scholarly journals Murine Pif1 Interacts with Telomerase and Is Dispensable for Telomere Function In Vivo

2006 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 1017-1026 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan E. Snow ◽  
Maria Mateyak ◽  
Jana Paderova ◽  
Andrew Wakeham ◽  
Caterina Iorio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Telomere Length ◽  
Chromosomal Rearrangements ◽  
Dna Helicase ◽  
Negative Regulator ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Genetic Redundancy ◽  
Telomeric Dna ◽  
Dna Helicases

ABSTRACT Pif1 is a 5′-to-3′ DNA helicase critical to DNA replication and telomere length maintenance in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. ScPif1 is a negative regulator of telomeric repeat synthesis by telomerase, and recombinant ScPif1 promotes the dissociation of the telomerase RNA template from telomeric DNA in vitro. In order to dissect the role of mPif1 in mammals, we cloned and disrupted the mPif1 gene. In wild-type animals, mPif1 expression was detected only in embryonic and hematopoietic lineages. mPif1 − / − mice were viable at expected frequencies, displayed no visible abnormalities, and showed no reproducible alteration in telomere length in two different null backgrounds, even after several generations. Spectral karyotyping of mPif1 − / − fibroblasts and splenocytes revealed no significant change in chromosomal rearrangements. Furthermore, induction of apoptosis or DNA damage revealed no differences in cell viability compared to what was found for wild-type fibroblasts and splenocytes. Despite a novel association of mPif1 with telomerase, mPif1 did not affect the elongation activity of telomerase in vitro. Thus, in contrast to what occurs with ScPif1, murine telomere homeostasis or genetic stability does not depend on mPif1, perhaps due to fundamental differences in the regulation of telomerase and/or telomere length between mice and yeast or due to genetic redundancy with other DNA helicases.

scholarly journals Expression of Mutated Paramecium Telomerase RNAs In Vivo Leads to Templating Errors That Resemble Those Made by Retroviral Reverse Transcriptase

1999 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 2887-2894 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda J. Ye ◽  
W. John Haynes ◽  
Daniel P. Romero
Keyword(s):  
Reverse Transcriptase ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Telomerase Rna ◽  
Paramecium Tetraurelia ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Telomeric Dna ◽  
Telomeric Repeats ◽  
Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
In The Wild

ABSTRACT Telomeric DNA consists of short, tandemly repeated sequences at the ends of chromosomes. Telomeric DNA in the ciliate Paramecium tetraurelia is synthesized by an error-prone telomerase with an RNA template specific for GGGGTT repeats. We have previously shown that misincorporation of TTP residues at the telomerase RNA templating nucleotide C52 accounts for the 30% GGGTTT repeats randomly distributed in wild-type telomeres. To more completely characterize variable repeat synthesis in P. tetraurelia, telomerase RNA genes mutated at C52 (A, U, and G) were expressed in vivo. De novo telomeric repeats from transformants indicate that the predominant TTP misincorporation error seen in the wild-type telomerase is dependent on the presence of a C residue at template position 52. Paradoxically, the effects of various other telomerase RNA template and alignment region mutations on de novo telomeres include significant changes in fidelity, as well as the synthesis of aberrant, 5-nucleotide telomeric repeats. The occurrence of deletion errors and the altered fidelity of mutatedP. tetraurelia telomerase, in conjunction with misincorporation by the wild-type enzyme, suggest that the telomerase RNA template domain may be analogous to homopolymeric mutational hot spots that lead to similar errors by the human immunodeficiency virus proofreading-deficient reverse transcriptase.

scholarly journals Uncapping and Deregulation of Telomeres Lead to Detrimental Cellular Consequences in Yeast

1999 ◽  
Vol 145 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher D. Smith ◽  
Elizabeth H. Blackburn
Keyword(s):  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Tandem Repeats ◽  
Function Analysis ◽  
Kluyveromyces Lactis ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Telomeric Dna ◽  
Telomere Function ◽  
Morphological Defects ◽  
Protein Nucleic Acid ◽  
Nucleic Acid Structures

Telomeres are the protein–nucleic acid structures at the ends of eukaryote chromosomes. Tandem repeats of telomeric DNA are templated by the RNA component (TER1) of the ribonucleoprotein telomerase. These repeats are bound by telomere binding proteins, which are thought to interact with other factors to create a higher-order cap complex that stabilizes the chromosome end. In the budding yeast Kluyveromyces lactis, the incorporation of certain mutant DNA sequences into telomeres leads to uncapping of telomeres, manifested by dramatic telomere elongation and increased length heterogeneity (telomere deregulation). Here we show that telomere deregulation leads to enlarged, misshapen “monster” cells with increased DNA content and apparent defects in cell division. However, such deregulated telomeres became stabilized at their elongated lengths upon addition of only a few functionally wild-type telomeric repeats to their ends, after which the frequency of monster cells decreased to wild-type levels. These results provide evidence for the importance of the most terminal repeats at the telomere in maintaining the cap complex essential for normal telomere function. Analysis of uncapped and capped telomeres also show that it is the deregulation resulting from telomere uncapping, rather than excessive telomere length per se, that is associated with DNA aberrations and morphological defects.

Interaction between transcriptional activator protein LAC9 and negative regulatory protein GAL80

1989 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 2950-2956
Author(s):  
J M Salmeron ◽  
S D Langdon ◽  
S A Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Transcriptional Activation ◽  
Kluyveromyces Lactis ◽  
Regulatory Protein ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Galactose Metabolism ◽  
Metabolism Regulation ◽  
Transcriptional Activator Protein ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Carboxy Terminal

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, transcriptional activation mediated by the GAL4 regulatory protein is repressed in the absence of galactose by the binding of the GAL80 protein, an interaction that requires the carboxy-terminal 28 amino acids of GAL4. The homolog of GAL4 from Kluyveromyces lactis, LAC9, activates transcription in S. cerevisiae and is highly similar to GAL4 in its carboxyl terminus but is not repressed by wild-type levels of GAL80 protein. Here we show that GAL80 does repress LAC9-activated transcription in S. cerevisiae if overproduced. We sought to determine the molecular basis for the difference in the responses of the LAC9 and GAL4 proteins to GAL80. Our results indicate that this difference is due primarily to the fact that under wild-type conditions, the level of LAC9 protein in S. cerevisiae is much higher than that of GAL4, which suggests that LAC9 escapes GAL80-mediated repression by titration of GAL80 protein in vivo. The difference in response to GAL80 is not due to amino acid sequence differences between the LAC9 and GAL4 carboxyl termini. We discuss the implications of these results for the mechanism of galactose metabolism regulation in S. cerevisiae and K. lactis.

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