Schořová Š., Fajkus J., Záveská Drábková L., Honys D., Procházková Schrumpfová P.
PLANT JOURNAL 98: 195-212, 2019

Keywords: telomerase assembly, Pontin, Reptin, AtTERT, AtTRB, AtRuvBL, AtPOT1a, nucleolus, Arabidopsis
Abstract: Telomerase maturation and recruitment to telomeres is regulated by several telomerase- and telomere- associated proteins. Among a number of proteins, human Pontin and Reptin play critical roles in telomerase biogenesis. Here we characterized plant orthologues of Pontin and Reptin, RuvBL1 and RuvBL2a, respec- tively, and show association of Arabidopsis thaliana RuvBL1 (AtRuvBL1) with the catalytic subunit of telom- erase (AtTERT) in the nucleolus in vivo. In contrast to mammals, interactions between AtTERT and AtRuvBL proteins in A. thaliana are not direct and they are rather mediated by one of the Arabidopsis thaliana Telom- ere Repeat Binding (AtTRB) proteins. We further show that plant orthologue of dyskerin, named AtCBF5, is indirectly associated with AtTRB proteins but not with the AtRuvBL proteins in the plant nucleus/nucleolus, and interacts with the Protection of telomere 1 (AtPOT1a) in the nucleolus or cytoplasmic foci. Our genome- wide phylogenetic analyses identify orthologues in RuvBL protein family within the plant kingdom. Dysfunc- tion of AtRuvBL genes in heterozygous T-DNA insertion A. thaliana mutants results in reduced telomerase activity and indicate the involvement of AtRuvBL in plant telomerase biogenesis.
DOI: 10.1111/tpj.14328 IEB authors: David Honys, Lenka Záveská Drá...