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Science 5 May 2000:
Vol. 288. no. 5467, pp. 863 - 867
DOI: 10.1126/science.288.5467.863
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Reports

Template Boundary in a Yeast Telomerase Specified by RNA Structure

Yehuda Tzfati, Tracy B. Fulton, Jagoree Roy, Elizabeth H. Blackburn *

The telomerase ribonucleoprotein has a phylogenetically divergent RNA subunit, which contains a short template for telomeric DNA synthesis. To understand how telomerase RNA participates in mechanistic aspects of telomere synthesis, we studied a conserved secondary structure adjacent to the template. Disruption of this structure caused DNA synthesis to proceed beyond the normal template boundary, resulting in altered telomere sequences, telomere shortening, and cellular growth defects. Compensatory mutations restored normal telomerase function. Thus, the RNA structure, rather than its sequence, specifies the template boundary. This study reveals a specific function for an RNA structure in the enzymatic action of telomerase.

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143-0414, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: telomer{at}itsa.ucsf.edu

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Template boundary definition in mammalian telomerase.
J.-L. Chen and C. W. Greider (2003)
Genes & Dev. 17, 2747-2752
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A template-proximal RNA paired element contributes to Saccharomyces cerevisiae telomerase activity.
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A novel pseudoknot element is essential for the action of a yeast telomerase.
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S. Natarajan and M. J. McEachern (2002)
Mol. Cell. Biol. 22, 4512-4521
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Telomerase recognizes its template by using an adjacent RNA motif.
M. C. Miller and K. Collins (2002)
PNAS 99, 6585-6590
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Template boundary definition in Tetrahymena telomerase.
C. K. Lai, M. C. Miller, and K. Collins (2002)
Genes & Dev. 16, 415-420
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Dynamics of Telomeric DNA Turnover in Yeast.
M. J. McEachern, D. H. Underwood, and E. H. Blackburn (2002)
Genetics 160, 63-73
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Functional Analysis of Conserved Residues in the Putative "Finger" Domain of Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase.
D. Bosoy and N. F. Lue (2001)
J. Biol. Chem. 276, 46305-46312
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Functional Regions of Human Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase and Human Telomerase RNA Required for Telomerase Activity and RNA-Protein Interactions.
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Positive and negative regulation of telomerase access to the telomere.
S. Evans and V Lundblad (2000)
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