Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1991 Nov;173(21):6709–6713. doi: 10.1128/jb.173.21.6709-6713.1991

Telomere length constancy during aging of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

N P D'Mello 1, S M Jazwinski 1
PMCID: PMC209019  PMID: 1938877

Abstract

It has been proposed that a decrease in the length of telomeres with the successive rounds of DNA replication that accompany mitotic division could play a causal role in the aging process. To investigate this possibility, telomeres from cells of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae that varied in replicative age were examined. No change in the lengths of the telomeres was observed in cells that had completed up to 83% of the mean life span. We conclude that the length of the telomeres is not a contributing factor in the natural aging process in individual yeast cells.

Full text

PDF
6709

Images in this article

6711FIG. 2
on p.6711

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Blackburn E. H. The molecular structure of centromeres and telomeres. Annu Rev Biochem. 1984;53:163–194. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.53.070184.001115. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Brown W. R. Molecular cloning of human telomeres in yeast. Nature. 1989 Apr 27;338(6218):774–776. doi: 10.1038/338774a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Carson M. J., Hartwell L. CDC17: an essential gene that prevents telomere elongation in yeast. Cell. 1985 Aug;42(1):249–257. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(85)80120-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chan C. S., Tye B. K. Organization of DNA sequences and replication origins at yeast telomeres. Cell. 1983 Jun;33(2):563–573. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90437-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cooke H. J., Smith B. A. Variability at the telomeres of the human X/Y pseudoautosomal region. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 1986;51(Pt 1):213–219. doi: 10.1101/sqb.1986.051.01.026. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Cross S. H., Allshire R. C., McKay S. J., McGill N. I., Cooke H. J. Cloning of human telomeres by complementation in yeast. Nature. 1989 Apr 27;338(6218):771–774. doi: 10.1038/338771a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Greider C. W., Blackburn E. H. A telomeric sequence in the RNA of Tetrahymena telomerase required for telomere repeat synthesis. Nature. 1989 Jan 26;337(6205):331–337. doi: 10.1038/337331a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Greider C. W., Blackburn E. H. Identification of a specific telomere terminal transferase activity in Tetrahymena extracts. Cell. 1985 Dec;43(2 Pt 1):405–413. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(85)90170-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Harley C. B., Futcher A. B., Greider C. W. Telomeres shorten during ageing of human fibroblasts. Nature. 1990 May 31;345(6274):458–460. doi: 10.1038/345458a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Hastie N. D., Dempster M., Dunlop M. G., Thompson A. M., Green D. K., Allshire R. C. Telomere reduction in human colorectal carcinoma and with ageing. Nature. 1990 Aug 30;346(6287):866–868. doi: 10.1038/346866a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Jazwinski S. M. An experimental system for the molecular analysis of the aging process: the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Gerontol. 1990 May;45(3):B68–B74. doi: 10.1093/geronj/45.3.b68. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Kipling D., Cooke H. J. Hypervariable ultra-long telomeres in mice. Nature. 1990 Sep 27;347(6291):400–402. doi: 10.1038/347400a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Link A. J., Olson M. V. Physical map of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome at 110-kilobase resolution. Genetics. 1991 Apr;127(4):681–698. doi: 10.1093/genetics/127.4.681. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Lundblad V., Szostak J. W. A mutant with a defect in telomere elongation leads to senescence in yeast. Cell. 1989 May 19;57(4):633–643. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90132-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Lustig A. J., Kurtz S., Shore D. Involvement of the silencer and UAS binding protein RAP1 in regulation of telomere length. Science. 1990 Oct 26;250(4980):549–553. doi: 10.1126/science.2237406. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Lustig A. J., Petes T. D. Identification of yeast mutants with altered telomere structure. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Mar;83(5):1398–1402. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.5.1398. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. MORTIMER R. K., JOHNSTON J. R. Life span of individual yeast cells. Nature. 1959 Jun 20;183(4677):1751–1752. doi: 10.1038/1831751a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Morin G. B. The human telomere terminal transferase enzyme is a ribonucleoprotein that synthesizes TTAGGG repeats. Cell. 1989 Nov 3;59(3):521–529. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90035-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Müller I., Zimmermann M., Becker D., Flömer M. Calendar life span versus budding life span of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mech Ageing Dev. 1980 Jan;12(1):47–52. doi: 10.1016/0047-6374(80)90028-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Neff M. W., Burke D. J. Random segregation of chromatids at mitosis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genetics. 1991 Mar;127(3):463–473. doi: 10.1093/genetics/127.3.463. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Pluta A. F., Zakian V. A. Recombination occurs during telomere formation in yeast. Nature. 1989 Feb 2;337(6206):429–433. doi: 10.1038/337429a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Shampay J., Blackburn E. H. Generation of telomere-length heterogeneity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 Jan;85(2):534–538. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.2.534. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Shampay J., Szostak J. W., Blackburn E. H. DNA sequences of telomeres maintained in yeast. Nature. 1984 Jul 12;310(5973):154–157. doi: 10.1038/310154a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Shmookler Reis R. J., Finn G. K., Smith K., Goldstein S. Clonal variation in gene methylation: c-H-ras and alpha-hCG regions vary independently in human fibroblast lineages. Mutat Res. 1990 Jan;237(1):45–57. doi: 10.1016/0921-8734(90)90031-l. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Walmsley R. M., Petes T. D. Genetic control of chromosome length in yeast. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Jan;82(2):506–510. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.2.506. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Walmsley R. M., Szostak J. W., Petes T. D. Is there left-handed DNA at the ends of yeast chromosomes? Nature. 1983 Mar 3;302(5903):84–86. doi: 10.1038/302084a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Zakian V. A. Structure and function of telomeres. Annu Rev Genet. 1989;23:579–604. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ge.23.120189.003051. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. de Lange T., Shiue L., Myers R. M., Cox D. R., Naylor S. L., Killery A. M., Varmus H. E. Structure and variability of human chromosome ends. Mol Cell Biol. 1990 Feb;10(2):518–527. doi: 10.1128/mcb.10.2.518. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Bacteriology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES