1. Cellular programming of plant gene imprinting
- Author
-
Robert L. Fischer, Matthew J. Bauer, Tzung-Fu Hsieh, and Jin Hoe Huh
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Biology ,Genes, Plant ,01 natural sciences ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Endosperm ,Epigenesis, Genetic ,Double fertilization ,03 medical and health sciences ,Genomic Imprinting ,Magnoliopsida ,Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ,Histone methylation ,Animals ,Imprinting (psychology) ,030304 developmental biology ,Genetics ,Regulation of gene expression ,0303 health sciences ,Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all) ,fungi ,food and beverages ,Embryo ,Sperm ,Histone Code ,Genomic imprinting ,010606 plant biology & botany - Abstract
Gene imprinting, the differential expression of maternal and paternal alleles, independently evolved in mammals and in flowering plants. A unique feature of flowering plants is a double-fertilization event in which the sperm fertilize not only the egg, which forms the embryo, but also the central cell, which develops into the endosperm (an embryo-supporting tissue). The distinctive mechanisms of gene imprinting in the endosperm, which involve DNA demethylation and histone methylation, begin in the central cell and sperm prior to fertilization. Flowering plants might have coevolved double fertilization and imprinting to prevent parthenogenetic development of the endosperm.
- Published
- 2008