Expression of Telomerase Activity is Closely Correlated with the Capacity for Cell Division in Tobacco Plants

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Telomerase is a specialized RNA-directed DNA polymerase that adds telomeric repeats to the ends of linear eukaryotic chromosomes. This activity is developmentally regulated in mammals. Here, we investigated the expression of telomerase activities in various cell types of tobacco plants using the telomere repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) assay. The greatest telomerase activity was detected in BY-2 suspension culture cells, while a relatively high level of activity was also found in roots. Because these two cell types contain a high proportion of actively dividing cells, our results indicate a close correlation between telomerase activity and the capacity for division in tobacco cells. Consistent with this observation was the very low level of telomerase activity in stems, leaves, and flowers, all tissues that had negligible activity of cell division. The specific expression of telomerase in actively dividing plant cells suggests that the pattern of telomerase regulation is largely conserved between higher plants and mammals.