question: What is the function of STAR elements in yeast telomeres?
answer: Subtelomeres also contain Sub-Telomeric Anti-silencing Regions (STARs). We also show that the deletion of Histone-Acetyltransferase genes reduce the silencing activity of an ACS proto-silencer, but also reduce the anti-silencing activity of a STAR.  The telomere-proximal portion of either X or Y' dampened silencing when located between the telomere and the reporter gene. These elements were named STARs, for subtelomeric anti-silencing regions. STARs can also counteract silencer-driven repression at the mating-type HML locus. When two STARs bracket a reporter gene, its expression is no longer influenced by surrounding silencing elements, although these are still active on a second reporter gene.