title: The heterochromatic chromosome caps in great apes impact telomere metabolism.
abstract: In contrast with the limited sequence divergence accumulated after separation of higher primate lineages, marked cytogenetic variation has been associated with the genome evolution in these species. Studying the impact of such structural variations on defined molecular processes can provide valuable insights on how genome structural organization contributes to organismal evolution. Here, we show that telomeres on chromosome arms carrying subtelomeric heterochromatic caps in the chimpanzee, which are completely absent in humans, replicate later than telomeres on chromosome arms without caps. In gorilla, on the other hand, a proportion of the subtelomeric heterochromatic caps present in most chromosome arms are associated with large blocks of telomere-like sequences that follow a replication program different from that of bona fide telomeres. Strikingly, telomere-containing RNA accumulates extrachromosomally in gorilla mitotic cells, suggesting that at least some aspects of telomere-containing RNA biogenesis have diverged in gorilla, perhaps in concert with the evolution of heterochromatic caps in this species.
authors.affiliation: Telomeres and Cancer laboratory, 'Equipe Labellisée Ligue contre le Cancer', UMR3244, Institut Curie, 26 rue d'Ulm, 75248 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Clara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Novo
authors.forename: Nausica
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Arnoult
authors.forename: Win-Yan
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Bordes
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Castro-Vega
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gibaud
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dutrillaux
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bacchetti
authors.forename: Arturo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Londoño-Vallejo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D006071:Gorilla gorilla / Q000235:genetics*; D006570:Heterochromatin / Q000737:chemistry*; D015186:Hominidae; D008938:Mitosis / Q000235:genetics; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000235:genetics*; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D016615:Telomere / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D006570:Heterochromatin; D012313:RNA