title: Unequal parental contributions: genomic imprinting in mammals.
abstract: Evidence for genomic imprinting, in which the expression of genes is influenced by their parental origin, is provided by pronuclear transplantation experiments, by studies of X-chromosome inactivation and monoparental disomy, and by the analysis of the expression and methylation of certain transgenes. Both patroclinous and matroclinous patterns of mammalian inheritance occur, and germ-cell and gonadal traits as well as tumor development can be affected. To understand the processes that influence genetic inheritance, genomic imprinting must be distinguished from Y-linkage and cytoplasmic and other maternal effects. Genomic imprinting may be mediated by a variety of mechanisms, including DNA methylation. Further studies addressing such aspects of imprinting as its initiation and maintenance are required to understand the molecular bases for these critical genetic events.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Essex, Colchester, UK.
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Shire
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D004303:Dosage Compensation, Genetic; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D030342:Genetic Diseases, Inborn / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008745:Methylation; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains / Q000235:genetics; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics; D053652:Nuclear Transfer Techniques; D012732:Sex Determination Analysis; D014960:X Chromosome; D015053:Zygote
chemical_list: D004247:DNA