Telomeres of Polytene Chromosomes in a Ciliated Protozoan Terminate in Duplex DNA Loops
Abstract
The end of a telomeric DNA sequence isolated from a polytene chromosome of a hypotrichous ciliate folds back and hybridizes with downstream telomeric sequence to form a t loop that is stable in the absence of protein and DNA cross-linking. The single-stranded, telomeric DNA sequence at the end of a macronuclear molecule does not form a t loop but, instead, is complexed with a heterodimeric, telomere-binding protein. Thus, two mechanisms for capping the ends of DNA molecules are used in the same cell.
- Publication:
-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- December 1999
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.96.25.14436
- Bibcode:
- 1999PNAS...9614436M