Skip to main content
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1988 Sep;85(18):6622–6626. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.18.6622

A highly conserved repetitive DNA sequence, (TTAGGG)n, present at the telomeres of human chromosomes.

R K Moyzis 1, J M Buckingham 1, L S Cram 1, M Dani 1, L L Deaven 1, M D Jones 1, J Meyne 1, R L Ratliff 1, J R Wu 1
PMCID: PMC282029  PMID: 3413114

Abstract

A highly conserved repetitive DNA sequence, (TTAGGG)n, has been isolated from a human recombinant repetitive DNA library. Quantitative hybridization to chromosomes sorted by flow cytometry indicates that comparable amounts of this sequence are present on each human chromosome. Both fluorescent in situ hybridization and BAL-31 nuclease digestion experiments reveal major clusters of this sequence at the telomeres of all human chromosomes. The evolutionary conservation of this DNA sequence, its terminal chromosomal location in a variety of higher eukaryotes (regardless of chromosome number or chromosome length), and its similarity to functional telomeres isolated from lower eukaryotes suggest that this sequence is a functional human telomere.

Full text

PDF
6622

Images in this article

Selected References

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

  1. Blackburn E. H., Challoner P. B. Identification of a telomeric DNA sequence in Trypanosoma brucei. Cell. 1984 Feb;36(2):447–457. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90238-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Blackburn E. H., Gall J. G. A tandemly repeated sequence at the termini of the extrachromosomal ribosomal RNA genes in Tetrahymena. J Mol Biol. 1978 Mar 25;120(1):33–53. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(78)90294-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. 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]
  4. Botstein D., White R. L., Skolnick M., Davis R. W. Construction of a genetic linkage map in man using restriction fragment length polymorphisms. Am J Hum Genet. 1980 May;32(3):314–331. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Burke D. T., Carle G. F., Olson M. V. Cloning of large segments of exogenous DNA into yeast by means of artificial chromosome vectors. Science. 1987 May 15;236(4803):806–812. doi: 10.1126/science.3033825. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Carle G. F., Olson M. V. Separation of chromosomal DNA molecules from yeast by orthogonal-field-alternation gel electrophoresis. Nucleic Acids Res. 1984 Jul 25;12(14):5647–5664. doi: 10.1093/nar/12.14.5647. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Clarke L., Carbon J. A colony bank containing synthetic Col El hybrid plasmids representative of the entire E. coli genome. Cell. 1976 Sep;9(1):91–99. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(76)90055-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Deaven L. L., Van Dilla M. A., Bartholdi M. F., Carrano A. V., Cram L. S., Fuscoe J. C., Gray J. W., Hildebrand C. E., Moyzis R. K., Perlman J. Construction of human chromosome-specific DNA libraries from flow-sorted chromosomes. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 1986;51(Pt 1):159–167. doi: 10.1101/sqb.1986.051.01.019. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Deng G., Wu R. An improved procedure for utilizing terminal transferase to add homopolymers to the 3' termini of DNA. Nucleic Acids Res. 1981 Aug 25;9(16):4173–4188. doi: 10.1093/nar/9.16.4173. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Forney J., Henderson E. R., Blackburn E. H. Identification of the telomeric sequence of the acellular slime molds Didymium iridis and Physarum polycephalum. Nucleic Acids Res. 1987 Nov 25;15(22):9143–9152. doi: 10.1093/nar/15.22.9143. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Fry K., Salser W. Nucleotide sequences of HS-alpha satellite DNA from kangaroo rat Dipodomys ordii and characterization of similar sequences in other rodents. Cell. 1977 Dec;12(4):1069–1084. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(77)90170-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Greider C. W., Blackburn E. H. The telomere terminal transferase of Tetrahymena is a ribonucleoprotein enzyme with two kinds of primer specificity. Cell. 1987 Dec 24;51(6):887–898. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90576-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Henderson E., Hardin C. C., Walk S. K., Tinoco I., Jr, Blackburn E. H. Telomeric DNA oligonucleotides form novel intramolecular structures containing guanine-guanine base pairs. Cell. 1987 Dec 24;51(6):899–908. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90577-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Holmquist G. P., Dancis B. Telomere replication, kinetochore organizers, and satellite DNA evolution. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Sep;76(9):4566–4570. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.9.4566. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. McKusick V. A., Ruddle F. H. Toward a complete map of the human genome. Genomics. 1987 Oct;1(2):103–106. doi: 10.1016/0888-7543(87)90001-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Meinkoth J., Wahl G. Hybridization of nucleic acids immobilized on solid supports. Anal Biochem. 1984 May 1;138(2):267–284. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(84)90808-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Moyzis R. K., Albright K. L., Bartholdi M. F., Cram L. S., Deaven L. L., Hildebrand C. E., Joste N. E., Longmire J. L., Meyne J., Schwarzacher-Robinson T. Human chromosome-specific repetitive DNA sequences: novel markers for genetic analysis. Chromosoma. 1987;95(6):375–386. doi: 10.1007/BF00333988. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Moyzis R. K., Bonnet J., Li D. W., Ts'o P. O. An alternative view of mammalian DNA sequence organization. II. Short repetitive sequences are organized into scrambled tandem clusters in Syrian hamster DNA. J Mol Biol. 1981 Dec 25;153(4):871–896. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(81)90457-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Nakamura Y., Leppert M., O'Connell P., Wolff R., Holm T., Culver M., Martin C., Fujimoto E., Hoff M., Kumlin E. Variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) markers for human gene mapping. Science. 1987 Mar 27;235(4796):1616–1622. doi: 10.1126/science.3029872. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Oka Y., Thomas C. A., Jr The cohering telomeres of Oxytricha. Nucleic Acids Res. 1987 Nov 11;15(21):8877–8898. doi: 10.1093/nar/15.21.8877. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Rich A., Nordheim A., Wang A. H. The chemistry and biology of left-handed Z-DNA. Annu Rev Biochem. 1984;53:791–846. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.53.070184.004043. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Robertson A. D., Moyzis R. K., Bonnet J., Ts'o P. O. A probabilistic analysis of DNA sequence organization. J Mol Biol. 1981 Dec 25;153(4):864–870. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(81)90456-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Schmid C. W., Deininger P. L. Sequence organization of the human genome. Cell. 1975 Nov;6(3):345–358. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(75)90184-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Schwartz D. C., Cantor C. R. Separation of yeast chromosome-sized DNAs by pulsed field gradient gel electrophoresis. Cell. 1984 May;37(1):67–75. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90301-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Singer M. F. Highly repeated sequences in mammalian genomes. Int Rev Cytol. 1982;76:67–112. doi: 10.1016/s0074-7696(08)61789-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Smith H. O., Birnstiel M. L. A simple method for DNA restriction site mapping. Nucleic Acids Res. 1976 Sep;3(9):2387–2398. doi: 10.1093/nar/3.9.2387. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Southern E. M. Base sequence and evolution of guinea-pig alpha-satellite DNA. Nature. 1970 Aug 22;227(5260):794–798. doi: 10.1038/227794a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Van der Ploeg L. H., Liu A. Y., Borst P. Structure of the growing telomeres of Trypanosomes. Cell. 1984 Feb;36(2):459–468. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90239-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Weiner A. M., Deininger P. L., Efstratiadis A. Nonviral retroposons: genes, pseudogenes, and transposable elements generated by the reverse flow of genetic information. Annu Rev Biochem. 1986;55:631–661. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.55.070186.003215. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Yao M. C., Yao C. H. Repeated hexanucleotide C-C-C-C-A-A is present near free ends of macronuclear DNA of Tetrahymena. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Dec;78(12):7436–7439. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.12.7436. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Yudkin J. Sugar and disease. Nature. 1972 Sep 22;239(5369):197–199. doi: 10.1038/239197a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES