telomere

(noun)

either of the repetitive nucleotide sequences at each end of a eukaryotic chromosome, which protect the chromosome from degradation

Related Terms

  • telomerase
  • plasmid

Examples of telomere in the following topics:

  • Telomere Replication

    • To prevent this shortening, the ends of linear eukaryotic chromosomes have special structures called telomeres.
    • The ends of the linear chromosomes are known as telomeres: repetitive sequences that code for no particular gene.
    • These telomeres protect the important genes from being deleted as cells divide and as DNA strands shorten during replication.
    • After sufficient rounds of replication, all the telomeric repeats are lost, and the DNA risks losing coding sequences with subsequent rounds.
    • Thus, telomere reactivation may have potential for treating age-related diseases in humans.
  • DNA Packaging

    • Heterochromatin usually contains genes that are not expressed, and is found in the regions of the centromere and telomeres.
  • Noncoding DNA

    • However, many types of noncoding DNA sequences do have important biological functions, including the transcriptional and translational regulation of protein-coding sequences, origins of DNA replication, centromeres, telomeres, scaffold attachment regions (SARs), genes for functional RNAs, and many others.
  • Characteristics of Eukaryotic DNA

    • Because of the linear nature of eukaryotic DNA, repeating non-coding DNA sequences called telomeres are present on either end of the chromosomes as protection from deterioration.
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