RAD50 function is essential for telomere maintenance in Arabidopsis.
We have identified and characterized an Arabidopsis thaliana rad50 mutant plant containing a T-DNA insertion in the AtRAD50 gene and showing both meiotic and DNA repair defects. We report here that rad50/rad50 mutant cells show a progressive shortening of telomeric DNA relative to heterozygous rad50/RAD50 controls and that the mutant cell population rapidly enters a crisis, with the majority of the cells dying. Surviving rad50 mutant cells have longer telomeres than wild-type cells, indicating the existence in plants of an alternative RAD50-independent mechanism for telomere maintenance. These results report the role of a protein essential for double-strand break repair in telomere maintenance in higher eukaryotes.
Gallego
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ME
Unité Mixte de Recherche 6547 BIOMOVE, Université Blaise Pascal, 24, Avenue des Landais, 63177 Aubière, France.
White
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CI
D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D016296:Mutagenesis; D010641:Phenotype; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D016615:Telomere / Q000502:physiology*
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005656:Fungal Proteins; C086930:RAD50 protein, S cerevisiae; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins