TY - JOUR
T1 - Two distinct domains in Drosophila melanogaster telomeres
AU - Biessmann, Harald
AU - Prasad, Sudha
AU - Semeshin, Valery F.
AU - Andreyeva, Eugenia N.
AU - Nguyen, Quang
AU - Walter, Marika F.
AU - Mason, James M.
PY - 2005/12
Y1 - 2005/12
N2 - Telomeres are generally considered heterochromatic. On the basis of DNA composition, the telomeric region of Drosophila melanogaster contains two distinct subdomains: a subtelomeric region of repetitive DNA, termed TAS, and a terminal array of retrotransposons, which perform the elongation function instead of telomerase. We have identified several P-element insertions into this retrotransposon array and compared expression levels of transgenes with similar integrations into TAS and euchromatic regions. In contrast to insertions in TAS, which are silenced, reporter genes in the terminal HeT-A, TAHRE, or TART retroelements did not exhibit repressed expression in comparison with the same transgene construct in euchromatin. These data, in combination with cytological studies, provide evidence that the subtelomeric TAS region exhibits features resembling heterochromatin, while the terminal retrotransposon array exhibits euchromatic characteristics.
AB - Telomeres are generally considered heterochromatic. On the basis of DNA composition, the telomeric region of Drosophila melanogaster contains two distinct subdomains: a subtelomeric region of repetitive DNA, termed TAS, and a terminal array of retrotransposons, which perform the elongation function instead of telomerase. We have identified several P-element insertions into this retrotransposon array and compared expression levels of transgenes with similar integrations into TAS and euchromatic regions. In contrast to insertions in TAS, which are silenced, reporter genes in the terminal HeT-A, TAHRE, or TART retroelements did not exhibit repressed expression in comparison with the same transgene construct in euchromatin. These data, in combination with cytological studies, provide evidence that the subtelomeric TAS region exhibits features resembling heterochromatin, while the terminal retrotransposon array exhibits euchromatic characteristics.
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U2 - 10.1534/genetics.105.048827
DO - 10.1534/genetics.105.048827
M3 - Article
C2 - 16143601
AN - SCOPUS:33645131928
SN - 0016-6731
VL - 171
SP - 1767
EP - 1777
JO - Genetics
JF - Genetics
IS - 4
ER -