Germ line imprinting in Drosophila: Epigenetics in search of function

Germ line imprinting produces parent-specific differences in the behavior of chromosomes or expression of genes. Epigenetic marks, placed on chromosomes in the parental germ line, govern classical imprinted effects such as chromosomal inactivation, chromosome elimination and mono-allelic expression....

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Bibliographic Details
Published inFly (Austin, Tex.) Vol. 4; no. 1; pp. 48 - 52
Main Authors Menon, Debashish U., Meller, Victoria
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Taylor & Francis 01.01.2010
Subjects
Animals
behavior
Binding
Biology
Bioscience
Calcium
Cancer
Cell
chromosome elimination
chromosomes
Cycle
Drosophila
Drosophila - genetics
epigenetics
gene expression
genome
Genomic Imprinting
Germ Cells
inactivation
insects
Landes
mammals
Organogenesis
Proteins
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Summary:Germ line imprinting produces parent-specific differences in the behavior of chromosomes or expression of genes. Epigenetic marks, placed on chromosomes in the parental germ line, govern classical imprinted effects such as chromosomal inactivation, chromosome elimination and mono-allelic expression. Germ line imprinting occurs in insects, plants and mammals. Several Drosophila systems display imprinted effects. In spite of this, many aspects of imprinting in flies, including the normal function of this process, remain mysterious. Transgenerational inheritance of epigenetic marks is a powerful force in genome regulation. Elucidation of the mechanism of imprint establishment and maintenance in a model organism, such as Drosophila, is thus of great interest. In this review we summarize the primary systems that have been used to study imprinting in flies and speculate on the origin and biological function of imprinting in Drosophila.
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ISSN:1933-6934
1933-6942
1933-6942
DOI:10.4161/fly.4.1.10881