Telomerase-mediated telomere elongation provides cell populations with the 
ability to proliferate indefinitely. Telomerase is capable of recognizing and 
extending the shortest telomeres in cells; nevertheless, how this mechanism is 
executed remains unclear. Here, we show that, in the fission yeast 
Schizosaccharomyces pombe, shortened telomeres are highly transcribed into the 
evolutionarily conserved long noncoding RNA TERRA A fraction of TERRA produced 
upon telomere shortening is polyadenylated and largely devoid of telomeric 
repeats, and furthermore, telomerase physically interacts with this 
polyadenylated TERRA in vivo We also show that experimentally enhanced 
transcription of a manipulated telomere promotes its association with telomerase 
and concomitant elongation. Our data represent the first direct evidence that 
TERRA stimulates telomerase recruitment and activity at chromosome ends in an 
organism with human-like telomeres.