A telomere maintenance process that results in the formation of small fragments of circular extrachromosomal DNA elements which contain telomeric DNA. It is speculated that telomeric DNA-containing double minutes are formed through a recombination event between the telomere and chromosome-internal TTAGGG-like sequences. Telomeric DNA-containing double minutes appear as two closely positioned dots in metaphase.
Source:
GOC:BHF_telomere,
GOC:BHF,
PMID:14690602,
GOC:nc,
PMID:2397458