Pot1, the Putative Telomere End-Binding Protein in Fission Yeast and Humans

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 292; no. 5519; pp. 1171 - 1175
• Main Authors: Baumann, Peter, Cech, Thomas R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for the Advancement of Science 11.05.2001; American Association for the Advancement of Science; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Amino acids; Base Sequence; Binding Sites; Biological and medical sciences; Chromatin. Chromosome; Chromosome Segregation - genetics; Chromosomes; Chromosomes, Fungal - genetics; Chromosomes, Fungal - metabolism; Cloning, Molecular; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA - genetics; DNA - metabolism; DNA binding proteins; DNA probes; DNA-Binding Proteins - chemistry; DNA-Binding Proteins - genetics; DNA-Binding Proteins - metabolism; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gels; Gene Deletion; Gene Expression Profiling; Genes; Genomics; Heterozygote; Humans; Molecular and cellular biology; Molecular genetics; Molecular Sequence Data; Ovary - metabolism; Phenotype; pot1 gene; Pot1 protein; Proteins; Relapse; RNA, Messenger - analysis; RNA, Messenger - genetics; Schizosaccharomyces - genetics; Schizosaccharomyces pombe; Schizosaccharomyces pombe Proteins; Sequence Alignment; Substrate Specificity; Telomere - genetics; Telomere - metabolism; Telomere-Binding Proteins; Telomeres; Yeast; Yeasts; Fungi; Human; Binding protein; Yeast; Stability; Schizosaccharomyces pombe; Chromosome; Ascomycetes; Mutation; Telomere; Thallophyta
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1060036

Telomere proteins from ciliated protozoa bind to the single-stranded G-rich DNA extensions at the ends of macronuclear chromosomes. We have now identified homologous proteins in fission yeast and in humans. These Pot1 (protection of telomeres) proteins each bind the G-rich strand of their own telomeric repeat sequence, consistent with a direct role in protecting chromosome ends. Deletion of the fission yeast pot1+gene has an immediate effect on chromosome stability, causing rapid loss of telomeric DNA and chromosome circularization. It now appears that the protein that caps the ends of chromosomes is widely dispersed throughout the eukaryotic kingdom.