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Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Genes & Development, 15(26), p. 1648-1652, 2012

DOI: 10.1101/gad.199059.112

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Blunt-ended telomeres: an alternative ending to the replication and end protection stories

Journal article published in 2012 by Andrew D. L. Nelson ORCID, Dorothy E. Shippen
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

Telomeres ensure the complete replication of genetic material while simultaneously distinguishing the chromosome terminus from a double-strand break. A prevailing theme in telomere biology is that the two chromosome ends are symmetrical. Both terminate in a single-strand 3′ extension, and the 3′ extension is crucial for telomere end protection. In this issue of Genes & Development, Kazda and colleagues (pp. 1703–1713) challenge this paradigm using a series of elegant biochemical and genetic assays to demonstrate that half of the chromosomes in flowering plants are blunt-ended. This discovery reveals unanticipated complexity in telomeric DNA processing and a novel mode of chromosome end protection.