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. 1997 Jun 15;16(12):3705–3714. doi: 10.1093/emboj/16.12.3705

The terminal DNA structure of mammalian chromosomes.

R McElligott 1, R J Wellinger 1
PMCID: PMC1169994  PMID: 9218811

Abstract

In virtually all eukaryotic organisms, telomeric DNA is composed of a variable number of short direct repeats. While the primary sequence of telomeric repeats has been determined for a great variety of species, the actual physical DNA structure at the ends of a bona fide metazoan chromosome with a centromere is unknown. It is shown here that an overhang of the strand forming the 3' ends of the chromosomes, the G-rich strand, is found at mammalian chromosome ends. Moreover, on at least some telomeres, the overhangs are > or = 45 bases long. Such surprisingly long overhangs were present on chromosomes derived from fully transformed tissue culture cells and normal G0-arrested peripheral leukocytes. Thus, irrespective of whether the cells were actively dividing or arrested, a very similar terminal DNA arrangement was found. These data suggest that the ends of mammalian and possibly all vertebrate chromosomes consist of an overhang of the G-rich strand and that these overhangs may be considerably larger than previously anticipated.

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Selected References

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