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Evolution of plant telomerase RNAs: farther to the past, deeper to the roots
- Source :
- Nucleic Acids Research
- Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- The enormous sequence heterogeneity of telomerase RNA (TR) subunits has thus far complicated their characterization in a wider phylogenetic range. Our recent finding that land plant TRs are, similarly to known ciliate TRs, transcribed by RNA polymerase III and under the control of the type-3 promoter, allowed us to design a novel strategy to characterize TRs in early diverging Viridiplantae taxa, as well as in ciliates and other Diaphoretickes lineages. Starting with the characterization of the upstream sequence element of the type 3 promoter that is conserved in a number of small nuclear RNAs, and the expected minimum TR template region as search features, we identified candidate TRs in selected Diaphoretickes genomes. Homologous TRs were then used to build covariance models to identify TRs in more distant species. Transcripts of the identified TRs were confirmed by transcriptomic data, RT-PCR and Northern hybridization. A templating role for one of our candidates was validated in Physcomitrium patens. Analysis of secondary structure demonstrated a deep conservation of motifs (pseudoknot and template boundary element) observed in all published TRs. These results elucidate the evolution of the earliest eukaryotic TRs, linking the common origin of TRs across Diaphoretickes, and underlying evolutionary transitions in telomere repeats.<br />Graphical Abstract Graphical AbstractWe present a smart strategy of telomerase RNA (TR) identification based on its conserved type-3 RNA Pol III promoter and TR template elements. We characterize TRs in early diverging Viridiplantae taxa, as well as in ciliates and other Diaphoretickes lineages. TRs are validated experimentally and show conservation of core TR structural domains. These results shed light on the evolution of a key eukaryotic non-coding RNA across more than a billion years.
- Subjects :
- Telomerase
endocrine system
animal structures
Transcription, Genetic
AcademicSubjects/SCI00010
Viridiplantae
Genome
RNA polymerase III
Evolution, Molecular
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Genetics
RNA and RNA-protein complexes
030304 developmental biology
0303 health sciences
Phylogenetic tree
biology
RNA
RNA Polymerase III
Telomere
biology.organism_classification
Evolutionary biology
RNA, Plant
Mutation
Nucleic Acid Conformation
RNA Polymerase II
Pseudoknot
Transcriptome
Sequence Alignment
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
hormones, hormone substitutes, and hormone antagonists
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 13624962
- Volume :
- 49
- Issue :
- 13
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Nucleic acids research
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....77830fd8f82a247a50190608559f4717