Designing a system to test for the presence of any nontelomeric nucleotide at the 3′-chromosomal end

The number of telomeric repeats in telomeres correlates with the proliferative potential of eukaryotic cells. The lengthening of telomeres and telomerase activity are regulated in several ways. One of these mechanisms is based on the elongation of the 3′-chromasomal end of an additional nucleotide that is not a part of the telomeric repeat motif. This study presents an approach to testing for the presence of an additional nontelomeric nucleotide at the 3′-end of the G strand of chromosomes. The applicability of this method is demonstrated for thermotolerant yeast H. polymorpha. The possibility of modifying the method to test for the presence of an additional nucleotide at the 3′-end of the chromosomes of other organisms is discussed.