Abstract
The RNA subunit of telomerase is an essential component whose primary sequence and length are poorly conserved among eukaryotic organisms. The phytopathogen Ustilago maydis is a dimorphic fungus of the order Ustilaginales. We analyzed several species of Ustilaginales to computationally identify the TElomere RNA (TER) gene ter1. To confirm the identity of the TER gene, we disrupted the gene and characterized telomerase-negative mutants. Similar to catalytic TERT mutants, ter1Δ mutants exhibit phenotypes of growth delay, telomere shortening and low replicative potential. ter1-disrupted mutants were unable to infect maize seedlings in heterozygous crosses and showed defects such as cell cycle arrest and segregation failure. We concluded that ter1, which encodes the TER subunit of the telomerase of U. maydis, have similar and perhaps more extensive functions than trt1.
Copyright: © 2023 Sanpedro-Luna et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Animals
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Life Cycle Stages
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RNA / metabolism
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Telomerase* / genetics
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Telomerase* / metabolism
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Ustilaginales* / genetics
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Ustilago* / genetics
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Ustilago* / metabolism
Substances
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telomerase RNA
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Telomerase
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RNA
Grants and funding
PS-A Proyecto: SAAM-NAT15-I Vicerrectoría de Investigación y de Estudios de Posgrado Benemérita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla
http://www.viep.buap.mx/ The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. PS-A Proyecto: Oficio No. VIEP/2505/16 Vicerrectoría de Investigación y de Estudios de Posgrado Benemérita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla
http://www.viep.buap.mx/ The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. JAS-L Beca CONACYT No. 620317
https://conacyt.mx/ Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, Mexico. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. JJJ-V/PS-A Proyecto: 201901042C Laboratorio Nacional de Supercómputo del Sureste de México
https://lns.buap.mx/ The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.