TERRA Incognita at chromosome ends.

Telomeres are transcribed in long noncoding RNA named TERRA. Although TERRA functions have been extensively investigated, the role of TERRA in telomerase recruitment and regulation is still elusive. In this issue of EMBO Reports, Moravec et al report in Schizosaccharomyces pombe that telomere shortening induces the expression of TERRA [1]. They show that polyadenylated TERRA molecules specifically associate with the telomerase catalytic subunit and stimulate telomerase-mediated elongation of the telomere from which the TERRA molecules originate. Strikingly, their results indicate that shaping the 30 end of telomere transcripts controls telomerase activity.