Genomic imprinting in plant embryos

Abstract

Genomic imprinting describes the expression of only one allele dependent on the parent-of-origin. This mechanism of monoallelic gene expression evolved independently in mammals and higher plants. Whereas in mammals, the phenomenon is known to affect extra-embryonic structures as well as the embryo, in plants imprinting seemed to be restricted to extra-embryonic, terminally differentiated tissue. The recent identification of parent-of-origin dependent gene expression in plant embryos indicates uncovered components and a more complex epigenetic regulatory system of genomic imprinting in plants.