植物和哺乳动物中基因组印记的趋同进化。

Convergent evolution of genomic imprinting in plants and mammals.

作者信息

Feil Robert, Berger Frédéric

机构信息

Institute of Molecular Genetics, CNRS UMR-5535 and University of Montpellier, 1919 route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier, France.

出版信息

Trends Genet. 2007 Apr;23(4):192-9. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2007.02.004. Epub 2007 Feb 21.

DOI:10.1016/j.tig.2007.02.004

PMID:17316885

Abstract

Parental genomic imprinting is characterized by the expression of a selected panel of genes from one of the two parental alleles. Recent evidence shows that DNA methylation and histone modifications are responsible for this parent-of-origin-dependent expression of imprinted genes. Because similar epigenetic marks have been recruited independently in plants and mammals, the only organisms in which imprinted gene loci have been identified so far, this phenomenon represents a case for convergent evolution. Here we discuss the emerging parallels in imprinting in both taxa. We also describe the significance of imprinting for reproduction and discuss potential models for its evolution.

摘要

亲本基因组印记的特征是从两个亲本等位基因之一中选择一组基因进行表达。最近的证据表明，DNA甲基化和组蛋白修饰是造成印记基因这种依赖亲本来源的表达的原因。由于在植物和哺乳动物（迄今为止仅在这两种生物中发现了印记基因座）中已独立募集了相似的表观遗传标记，这种现象代表了趋同进化的一个实例。在此，我们讨论这两个类群在印记方面新出现的相似之处。我们还描述了印记对繁殖的重要性，并讨论其进化的潜在模式。