Escape from genomic imprinting at the mouse T-associated maternal effect (Tme) locus.
Genomic imprinting occurs at the paternally inherited allele of the mouse T-associated maternal effect (Tme) locus. As a consequence, maternal transmission of a functional Tme gene is normally required for viability and individuals that receive a Tme-deleted chromosome (Thp or tlub2) from their mother die late in gestation or shortly thereafter. Here we report that a rearranged paternally derived chromosome duplicated for the Tme locus can act to rescue animals that have not received a maternal copy of the Tme locus. Unexpectedly, all rescued animals display an abnormal short/kinky tail phenotype. Somatic transfer of genomic imprinting between homologs by means of a transvection-like process between paired Tme and T loci is proposed as a model to explain the results obtained.
Tsai
J Y
JY
Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, New Jersey 08544-1014.
Silver
L M
LM
D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D002872:Chromosome Deletion; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D005260:Female; D005804:Genes, Lethal; D005838:Genotype; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D010641:Phenotype; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013623:Tail