University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Trends Genet. 2011 Jul;27(7):251-7. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2011.04.005. Epub 2011 Jun 15.
Genomic imprinting is the differential expression of an allele based on the parent of origin. Recent transcriptome-wide evaluations of the number of imprinted genes reveal complex patterns of imprinted expression among developmental stages and cell types. Such data demand a comprehensive evolutionary framework in which to understand the effect of natural selection on imprinted gene expression. We present such a framework for how asymmetries in demographic parameters and fitness effects can lead to the evolution of genomic imprinting and place recent theoretical advances in this framework. This represents a modern interpretation of the kinship theory, is well suited to studying populations with complex social interactions, and provides predictions which can be tested with forthcoming transcriptomic data. To understand the intricate phenotypic patterns that are emerging from the recent deluge of data, future investigations of genomic imprinting will require integrating evolutionary theory, transcriptomic data, developmental and functional genetics, and natural history.
基因组印迹是基于亲本来源的等位基因的差异表达。最近对印迹基因数量的转录组范围的评估揭示了发育阶段和细胞类型中印迹表达的复杂模式。此类数据需要一个全面的进化框架来理解自然选择对印迹基因表达的影响。我们提出了这样一个框架，说明人口统计学参数和适应度效应的不对称性如何导致基因组印迹的进化，并将最近的理论进展置于该框架内。这代表了亲属关系理论的现代解释，非常适合研究具有复杂社会互动的种群，并提供了可以用即将到来的转录组数据进行测试的预测。为了理解最近大量数据中出现的复杂表型模式，未来对基因组印迹的研究将需要整合进化理论、转录组数据、发育和功能遗传学以及自然历史。
