In general, normal somatic cells proliferate with a finite replicative capacity and with each cell division, telomeres (the physical ends of linear chromosomes) progressively shorten until they reach a critical length, at which point the cells enter replicative senescence. Some cells maintain telomere length by the activation of the telomerase enzyme.
The bristlecone pine, Pinus longaeva, is the oldest known living
eukaryotic organism, with the oldest on record turning 4770 years old
in 2005. We undertook an investigation of telomere length and
telomerase activity in such trees with objective to determine the
following:
1. What changes occur, if any, in telomere length and telomerase
activity with age.
2. What roles, if any, telomere length and telomerase activity may play
in contributing to the increased life-span and longevity of P. longaeva
with age, as well as in other tree species of various life-spans.
The results from this study support the hypothesis that both increased
telomere length and telomerase activity may directly/indirectly
contribute to the increased life-span and longevity evident in
long-lived pine trees (i.e., 2000-5000 year life-spans) compared to
medium-lived (400-500 year life-span) and short-lived (100-200 year
life-span) pine trees, as well as in P. longaeva with age.
Key words:
Longevity, Telomerase, Telomere, Trees, Pinus Longaeva
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