This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Shakirov, E. V.
Right arrow Articles by Shippen, D. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Shakirov, E. V.
Right arrow Articles by Shippen, D. E.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Molecular and Cellular Biology, September 2005, p. 7725-7733, Vol. 25, No. 17
0270-7306/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/MCB.25.17.7725-7733.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

The Arabidopsis Pot1 and Pot2 Proteins Function in Telomere Length Homeostasis and Chromosome End Protection

Eugene V. Shakirov,{dagger} Yulia V. Surovtseva,{dagger} Nathan Osbun, and Dorothy E. Shippen*

Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, 2128 TAMU, College Station, Texas 77843-2128

Received 29 April 2005/ Accepted 20 May 2005

Pot1 (protection of telomeres 1) is a single-stranded telomere binding protein that is essential for chromosome end protection and telomere length homeostasis. Arabidopsis encodes two Pot1-like proteins, dubbed AtPot1 and AtPot2. Here we show that telomeres in transgenic plants expressing a truncated AtPot1 allele lacking the N-terminal oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide binding fold (P1{Delta}N) are 1 to 1.5 kb shorter than in the wild type, suggesting that AtPot1 contributes to the positive regulation of telomere length control. In contrast, telomere length is unperturbed in plants expressing the analogous region of AtPot2. A strikingly different phenotype is observed in plants overexpressing the AtPot2 N terminus (P2{Delta}C) but not the corresponding region in AtPot1. Although bulk telomeres in P2{Delta}C mutants are 1 to 2 kb shorter than in the wild type, these plants resemble late-generation telomerase-deficient mutants with severe growth defects, sterility, and massive genome instability, including bridged chromosomes and aneuploidy. The genome instability associated with P2{Delta}C mutants implies that AtPot2 contributes to chromosome end protection. Thus, Arabidopsis has evolved two Pot genes that function differently in telomere biology. These findings provide unanticipated information about the evolution of single-stranded telomere binding proteins.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, 2128 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-2128. Phone: (979) 862-2342. Fax: (979) 845-9274. E-mail: dshippen{at}tamu.edu.

{dagger} E.V.S. and Y.V.S. contributed equally to this work.


Molecular and Cellular Biology, September 2005, p. 7725-7733, Vol. 25, No. 17
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/MCB.25.17.7725-7733.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.




This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Palm, W., Hockemeyer, D., Kibe, T., de Lange, T. (2009). Functional Dissection of Human and Mouse POT1 Proteins. Mol. Cell. Biol. 29: 471-482 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • He, H., Wang, Y., Guo, X., Ramchandani, S., Ma, J., Shen, M.-F., Garcia, D. A., Deng, Y., Multani, A. S., You, M. J., Chang, S. (2009). Pot1b Deletion and Telomerase Haploinsufficiency in Mice Initiate an ATR-Dependent DNA Damage Response and Elicit Phenotypes Resembling Dyskeratosis Congenita. Mol. Cell. Biol. 29: 229-240 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Song, X., Leehy, K., Warrington, R. T., Lamb, J. C., Surovtseva, Y. V., Shippen, D. E. (2008). STN1 protects chromosome ends in Arabidopsis thaliana. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105: 19815-19820 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kannan, K., Nelson, A. D. L., Shippen, D. E. (2008). Dyskerin Is a Component of the Arabidopsis Telomerase RNP Required for Telomere Maintenance. Mol. Cell. Biol. 28: 2332-2341 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Rossignol, P., Collier, S., Bush, M., Shaw, P., Doonan, J. H. (2007). Arabidopsis POT1A interacts with TERT-V(I8), an N-terminal splicing variant of telomerase. J. Cell Sci. 120: 3678-3687 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Chen, L.-Y., Liu, D., Songyang, Z. (2007). Telomere Maintenance through Spatial Control of Telomeric Proteins. Mol. Cell. Biol. 27: 5898-5909 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hong, J.-P., Byun, M. Y., Koo, D.-H., An, K., Bang, J.-W., Chung, I. K., An, G., Kim, W. T. (2007). Suppression of RICE TELOMERE BINDING PROTEIN1 Results in Severe and Gradual Developmental Defects Accompanied by Genome Instability in Rice. Plant Cell 19: 1770-1781 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Jacob, N. K., Lescasse, R., Linger, B. R., Price, C. M. (2007). Tetrahymena POT1a Regulates Telomere Length and Prevents Activation of a Cell Cycle Checkpoint. Mol. Cell. Biol. 27: 1592-1601 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Churikov, D., Wei, C., Price, C. M. (2006). Vertebrate POT1 Restricts G-Overhang Length and Prevents Activation of a Telomeric DNA Damage Checkpoint but Is Dispensable for Overhang Protection.. Mol. Cell. Biol. 26: 6971-6982 [Abstract] [Full Text]