A bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) assay to detect telomere length in S. cerevisiae

ABSTRACT A method to measure telomere length in S. cerevisiae was developed based on bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET). The system uses energy transfer between a luciferase-Rif2 fusion protein and fluorescently tagged Rap1. The study demonstrates that the BRET ratio correlates with the Rap1/Rif2 complex at the telomeres and thus the availability of telomeric Rap1 binding sites. This enables the measurement of telomere length in living cells. The system was able to reproduce reported deviations in telomere length in mutants lacking telomere length regulators, cells treated with telomere length modifying compounds and strains expressing inducible telomerase. The BRET ratio linearly correlated with the average number of telomeric nucleotides derived from long-read sequencing data using a novel algorithm for telomere length calculation. Competing Interest Statement The system has been patented under the European Patent Application No. 24174120.6 "Optical, cell-based, high-throughput capable method for the determination of telomere length and dynamics in yeast" by F.R. and J.F.