How the mouse got its spots.
One's ultimate phenotype is the result of a combination of genotype and environment, and includes a poorly understood component termed "developmental noise". This "developmental noise", also known as "intangible variation", is rarely discussed even though it appears to make a significant contribution to the variance of quantitative traits within a species. The molecular basis of developmental noise remains unknown, but it appears to be established in embryonic development and to be retained for the life of the organism. We propose that the molecular basis of developmental noise is, at least in some instances, the epigenetic state of the genome. The stochastic nature of the establishment of epigenetic state, combined with its heritability during mitosis, provides all of the essential components for developmental noise.
School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences, University of Sydney, 2006 NSW, Australia.
Marnie E
ME
Blewitt
Suyinn
S
Chong
Emma
E
Whitelaw
D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic / Q000502:physiology; D006197:Hair / Q000378:metabolism*; D006200:Hair Color / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000502:physiology; D018433:Twin Studies as Topic; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism