Abstract
In flowering plants, insects and mammals, certain
genes are uniparentally expressed due to differences in the epigenetic marks
associated with the alleles inherited from the maternal and paternal germplasm.
This phenomenon is known as genomic imprinting. Recent work has identified
large numbers of imprinted genes from three plant species, Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa and Zea mays. This provides new opportunities for understanding the
evolutionary background to imprinting. In particular, we consider the links
between imprinting and hybridization between plants of different strains,
species and ploidies, and possible problems associated with using hybrid crosses
to identify genomic imprinting events. Finally, we consider these discussions
in the light of current theories about speciation and the evolution of the
plant endosperm.
| Original language | English (Ireland) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Plant Polyploidy and Hybrid Genomics |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2012 |
Authors (Note for portal: view the doc link for the full list of authors)
- Authors
- Peter C. McKeown, Antoine Fort and Charles Spillane