Localization of yeast telomeres to the nuclear periphery is separable fromtranscriptional repression and telomere stability functions

The left telomere of Saccharomyces chromosome VII was often localized near the nuclear periphery, even in cells lacking the silencing proteins Sir3 or Hdf1. This association was lost in late mitotic cells and when transcripti on was induced through the telomeric tract. Although in silencing competent cells there was no correlation between the fraction of cells in which a te lomeric gene was repressed and the fraction of cells in which it was locali zed to the periphery, no condition was found where the telomere was both si lenced and away from the periphery. We conclude that localization of a telo mere to the nuclear periphery is not sufficient for transcriptional repress ion nor does it affect the stability function of yeast telomeres.