Open AccessThe highly variable pentameric repeats of the AT-rich germline limited DNA in Parascaris univalens are the telomeric repeats of somatic chromosomes
Author(s) -
Claudia Teschke,
Gabriele Solleder,
Karl B. Moritz
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
nucleic acids research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 9.008
H-Index - 537
eISSN - 1362-4954
pISSN - 0305-1048
DOI - 10.1093/nar/19.10.2677
Subject(s) - biology , genetics , germline , somatic cell , classics , genealogy , history , gene
We have characterized the organization of the germline limited DNA of P. univalens by means of sequence analysis. The repeat unit of this satellite DNA is the pentanucleotide 5'TTGCA, although there is a high degree of sequence variation. Repeat variants are not arranged in tandem but in a disperse, nonrandom manner. In the somatic genome which arises from the germline genome through extensive genomic rearrangement early in development, copies of these pentamers represent the telomeric repeats, indicated by their sensitivity to Bal 31 and their presence in a somatic endlibrary. Unlike telomeric sequences from other species the P. univalens telomeres do not display consecutive guanines and no strand bias for that base, recently suggested as universal features of eukaryotic telomeres. Investigation of fragments that carry pentameric repeats along with sequences of different type identifies a 5 bp consensus sequence at the junction point. We suggest a model in which pentameric repeats originate via amplification by a terminal transferase (telomerase) in both the germline and the somatic genome.