title: Allium telomeres unmasked: the unusual telomeric sequence (CTCGGTTATGGG)n is synthesized by telomerase.
abstract: Phylogenetic divergence in Asparagales plants is associated with switches in telomere sequences. The last switch occurred with divergence of the genus Allium (Amaryllidaceae) from the other Allioideae (formerly Alliaceae) genera, resulting in uncharacterized telomeres maintained by an unknown mechanism. To characterize the unknown Allium telomeres, we applied a combination of bioinformatic processing of transcriptomic and genomic data with standard approaches in telomere biology such as BAL31 sensitivity tests, terminal restriction fragment analysis, the telomere repeat amplification protocol (TRAP), and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Using these methods, we characterize the unusual telomeric sequence (CTCGGTTATGGG)n present in Allium species, demonstrate its synthesis by telomerase, and characterize the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) subunit of Allium cepa. Our findings open up the possibility of studying the molecular details of the evolutionary genetic change in Allium telomeres and its possible role in speciation. Experimental studies addressing the implications of this change in terms of the interplay of telomere components may now be designed to shed more light on telomere functions and evolution in general.
authors.affiliation: Mendel Centre for Plant Genomics and Proteomics, Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, CZ-62500, Brno, Czech Republic.|Institute of Biophysics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, CZ-61265, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fajkus
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biophysics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, CZ-61265, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Vratislav
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Peška
authors.affiliation: Mendel Centre for Plant Genomics and Proteomics, Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, CZ-62500, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Zdeňka
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sitová
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biophysics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, CZ-61265, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fulnečková
authors.affiliation: Mendel Centre for Plant Genomics and Proteomics, Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, CZ-62500, Brno, Czech Republic.|Institute of Biophysics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, CZ-61265, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dvořáčková
authors.affiliation: Mendel Centre for Plant Genomics and Proteomics, Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, CZ-62500, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gogela
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biophysics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, CZ-61265, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sýkorová
authors.affiliation: Mendel Centre for Plant Genomics and Proteomics, Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, CZ-62500, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hapala
authors.affiliation: Mendel Centre for Plant Genomics and Proteomics, Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, CZ-62500, Brno, Czech Republic.|Laboratory of Functional Genomics and Proteomics, National Centre for Biomolecular Research, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, CZ-62500, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jiří
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fajkus
mesh_terms: D000490:Allium / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D032461:Chromosomes, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D019295:Computational Biology; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D023281:Genomics; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics*; D059467:Transcriptome
chemical_list: D019098:Telomerase
keywords: Allium; TERT; evolution; genome sequencing; onion; telomerase; unusual telomere