we all know that we age because at the end of each cell division, telomere in the chromosome shortens and we die eventually. so do we have telomere shortening in plants?
It is wild speculation that we humans die because our telomeres become short. But to answer your question yes in plants telomeres also shorten although I have not given this a thorough search.. This is a first paper to start with: http://m.pnas.org/content/92/21/9555.short
there is also a telomerase knockout paper in arobidopsis
http://m.pnas.org/content/96/26/14813.short
Plants have meristems (totipotent cells) with telomerase activity. In other cells telomeres shorten.
Hello, I found this information that might be helpful to you.
http://www.plantcell.org/content/16/4/794.full
Regards
Yes, telomeres shorten in plant cells as in animal cells, but in the meristemal totipotent cells telomerase is active and telomeres does not shorten.
If you are still interested about this topic, check this lab out www.planttelomeres.com
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