Telomeres: an organized string linking plants and mammals

Telomeres are pivotal determinants of cell stemness, organismal aging, and lifespan. Herein, we examined similarities in telomeres of Arabidopsis thaliana, mice, and humans. We report the common traits, which include their composition in multimers of TTAGGG sequences and their protection by specialized proteins. Moreover, given the link between telomeres, on the one hand, and cell proliferation and stemness on the other, we discuss the counterintuitive convergence between plants and mammals in this regard, focusing on the impact of niches on cell stemness. Finally, we suggest that tackling the study of telomere function and cell stemness by taking into consideration both plants and mammals can aid in the understanding of interconnections and contribute to research focusing on aging and organismal lifespan determinants.

The authors acknowledge the support of NBFC to IS, funded National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.4 – Call for tender No. 3138 of 16 December 2021, rectified by Decree n.3175 of 18 December 2021 of Italian Ministry of University and Research funded by the European Union –NextGenerationEU; Award Number: Project code CN_00000033, Concession Decree No.1034 of 17 June 2022 adopted by the Italian Ministry of University and Research, Project title “National Biodiversity Future Center-NBFC” Sapienza CN5-Spoke 7. AIRC IG-24614 to IS. Istituto Pasteur Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti Anna Tramontano call 2020 to IS. MIUR-Sapienza RP1201729E377B2D, RP11916B7F20A9E3, RP12218167BDB0A9 to IS. MIUR-Sapienza RM12117A5D970AB9 and GA122181AFEB4283 to IS as co-PI. MIUR-Sapienza RG12218166E3EE68 and AH12218100A1640A to RDI. 20229LHY5L-PRIN2022 to RDI. POR FESR Lazio 2014-2020-code A0375E0189-2020-36640 to RDI. MIUR-Sapienza AR22117A575BCFA5 to MLT. Italian ministry of health 2022 Programma di ricerca e formazione to IS. Singapore ministry of health HLCA22Feb-0029 to IS as co-PI. IS is affiliated to the following institutions: School of Biological Sciences Nanyang Technological University Singapore Singapore, NISB Institute of Structural Biology Nanyang Technological University Singapore Singapore, CNR Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology, Rome, Italy, Istituto Pasteur Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti Rome Italy. And by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN) of Spain PID2022-140719NB-I00 to MPG-G as IP2.

Peer reviewed