Telomere length does not change during senescence of the ascomycete Podospora anserina

All strains of the filamentous fungus Podospora anserina are characterized by a well defined life span. Senescence is controlled by nuclear and extranuclear genetic traits. In order to test whether or not the ends of the chromosomes of this ascomycete shorten during senescence and thus telomere shortening may be linked to the well analyzed, age-related reorganizations of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), we analyzed the genomic DNA of P. anserina wild-type strain s. We found that, although the mtDNA becomes reorganized when cultures age, the telomeres remain constant suggesting that telomere shortening does not play a major role in normal aging of this particular biological system.