Abstract
Publisher Summary Telomeres are specialized structures at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes that are required for chromosome stability and the complete replication of linear chromosomes. In ciliates de novo telomere formation is an essential step in a critical developmental stage—the generation of the new macronucleus. Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein (RNP) reverse transcriptase responsible for the synthesis of telomeric repeats. Telomerase is the only known reverse transcriptase that contains its own template, which is present in the telomerase RNA moiety as an integral part of the RNP complex. The telomerase RNA of Tetrahymena thermophila is a relatively small RNA (159 nucleotides) with a very well-defined secondary structure. Specific residues of the templating domain are copied to produce the G-rich telomeric strand. Ciliates devote significant cellular resources to the maintenance and replication of telomeres due to the large number of macronuclear chromosomes and the relatively small size of each macronuclear chromosome. Consequently, each cell contains an unusually large number of chromosome ends.
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