Paro R
Zentrum für Molekulare Biologie, Universität Heidelberg, FRG.
Trends Genet. 1990 Dec;6(12):416-21. doi: 10.1016/0168-9525(90)90303-n.
The Polycomb gene of Drosophila melanogaster is a member of a class of genes involved in the clonal transmission of the repressed state of bomeotic regulatory genes through development. Genetic evidence, and the finding of a molecular similarity between the Polycomb protein and a heterochromatin-associated protein of Drosophila, suggest that this mechanism of repression might be imprinted in the structure of the chromatin, rather than being sustained through the action of diffusible regulatory factors.