title: Telomerase catalytic subunit homologs from fission yeast and human.
abstract: Catalytic protein subunits of telomerase from the ciliate Euplotes aediculatus and the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae contain reverse transcriptase motifs. Here the homologous genes from the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe and human are identified. Disruption of the S. pombe gene resulted in telomere shortening and senescence, and expression of mRNA from the human gene correlated with telomerase activity in cell lines. Sequence comparisons placed the telomerase proteins in the reverse transcriptase family but revealed hallmarks that distinguish them from retroviral and retrotransposon relatives. Thus, the proposed telomerase catalytic subunits are phylogenetically conserved and represent a deep branch in the evolution of reverse transcriptases.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0215, USA.
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Morin
authors.forename: K B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Weinrich
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Andrews
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lingner
authors.forename: C B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Harley
authors.forename: T R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Cech
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D002384:Catalysis; D002460:Cell Line; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D006801:Humans; D007438:Introns; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012313:RNA; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000737:chemistry; D018626:Retroelements; D012568:Schizosaccharomyces / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D029702:Schizosaccharomyces pombe Proteins; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D019098:Telomerase / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016615:Telomere / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D018626:Retroelements; D029702:Schizosaccharomyces pombe Proteins; C422952:telomerase RNA; C509188:trt1 protein, S pombe; D012313:RNA; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase; D019098:Telomerase