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Updated: Oct 9, 2026

Telomere Length and Telomerase Activity; A Yin and Yang of Cell Senescence
Published on: May 22, 2013
RAD50 function is essential for telomere maintenance in Arabidopsis
1Unité Mixte de Recherche 6547 BIOMOVE, Université Blaise Pascal, 24, Avenue des Landais, 63177 Aubière, France.
Abstract:
We have identified and characterized an Arabidopsis thaliana rad50 mutant plant containing a T-DNA insertion in the AtRAD50 gene and showing both meiotic and DNA repair defects. We report here that rad50/rad50 mutant cells show a progressive shortening of telomeric DNA relative to heterozygous rad50/RAD50 controls and that the mutant cell population rapidly enters a crisis, with the majority of the cells dying. Surviving rad50 mutant cells have longer telomeres than wild-type cells, indicating the existence in plants of an alternative RAD50-independent mechanism for telomere maintenance. These results report the role of a protein essential for double-strand break repair in telomere maintenance in higher eukaryotes.
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