Telomere Truncation in Plants

Telomeres are highly repetitive sequences at the ends of chromosomes that act as protection structure for chromosome stability. The integration of telomere sequences into the genome by genetic transformation can create chromosome instability because the integrated telomere sequences tend to form de novo telomeres at the site of integration. Thus, telomere repeats can be used to generate minichromosomes by telomere-mediated chromosome truncation in both plants and animals for chromosome studies as well as the applications in genetic engineering as engineered minichromosomes or artificial chromosomes. This protocol describes the procedure for telomere truncation of maize chromosomes by genetic transformation of telomere-containing constructs by both Agrobacterium - and biolistic-mediated transformations.