%0 Journal Article
%T Epigenetic Mechanisms of Genomic Imprinting: Common Themes in the Regulation of Imprinted Regions in Mammals, Plants, and Insects
%A William A. MacDonald
%J Genetics Research International
%D 2012
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2012/585024
%X Genomic imprinting is a form of epigenetic inheritance whereby the regulation of a gene or chromosomal region is dependent on the sex of the transmitting parent. During gametogenesis, imprinted regions of DNA are differentially marked in accordance to the sex of the parent, resulting in parent-specific expression. While mice are the primary research model used to study genomic imprinting, imprinted regions have been described in a broad variety of organisms, including other mammals, plants, and insects. Each of these organisms employs multiple, interrelated, epigenetic mechanisms to maintain parent-specific expression. While imprinted genes and imprint control regions are often species and locus-specific, the same suites of epigenetic mechanisms are often used to achieve imprinted expression. This review examines some examples of the epigenetic mechanisms responsible for genomic imprinting in mammals, plants, and insects. 1. Introduction Epigenetic regulation of the genome is a critical facet of development. Epigenetic control of gene expression allows heritable changes in gene expression without the need for alterations in DNA sequence. This is achieved through the recruitment of molecular processes that assist transcription, block transcription, or degrade existing transcripts. Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic process that marks DNA in a sex-dependent manner, resulting in the differential expression of a gene depending on its parent of origin. Achieving an imprint requires establishing meiotically stable male and female imprints during gametogenesis and maintaining the imprinted state through DNA replication in the somatic cells of the embryo. Erasure of the preceding generation¡¯s imprint occurs in the germ line, followed by imprint reestablishment, in accordance with the sex of the organism. Each step in this imprinting process requires epigenetic marks to be interpreted by the genome and acted upon accordingly to result in parent-specific gene expression. Genomic imprinting has been widely reported in eutherian mammals and marsupials [1¨C3]. Mice comprise the primary research model organism for the study of genomic imprinting. Approximately one hundred imprinted genes have been identified in mice with many more predicted to be present [2, 4]. This review considers imprinting to include chromosomal domains that direct imprinted epigenetic regulation, even if endogenous transcriptional units have yet to be identified as imprinting targets. Many imprinted genes in mice are developmentally important, linked to the formation of the placenta, or
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/gri/2012/585024/