# A Chromosome End Without Terminal Telomere Repeats is Stable for Multiple Cell Divisions

## TL;DR

This study shows that chromosome ends without telomere repeats can remain stable for several cell divisions in a type of yeast.

## Contribution

The research demonstrates that telomere repeats are not essential for chromosome end stability in the absence of telomerase.

## Key findings

- Cells lacking telomerase can divide multiple times with non-telomeric sequences at chromosome ends.
- Telomere stability was observed even without terminal single-stranded telomere repeats.
- Some cells showed terminal truncations or added telomere repeats when telomerase was not active.

## Abstract

We have formed new short telomeres in
Schizosaccharomyces pombe
using an inducible nuclease that cuts near telomere repeats in cells that lack, cannot recruit or cannot fully activate telomerase. Sequencing these new telomeres showed that cells can divide at least 4 times with ~30 bp of non-telomeric sequence at the chromosome end in cells lacking telomerase, which contrasts with current models for the roles of terminal single-stranded telomere repeats and the telomere proteins in telomere protection and replication. Cells that cannot recruit or activate telomerase had similar results, with additional terminal truncations or telomere repeat addition.