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1: Nat Rev Genet. 2005 May;6(5):403-10.Click here to read Links

Co-evolution of X-chromosome inactivation and imprinting in mammals.

Reik W, Lewis A.

Laboratory of Developmental Genetics and Imprinting, The Babraham Institute, Cambridge CB2 4AT, United Kingdom. wolf.reik@bbsrc.ac.uk

Recent studies have revealed mechanistic parallels between imprinted X-chromosome inactivation and autosomal imprinting. We suggest that neither mechanism was present in ancestral egg-laying mammals, and that both arose when the evolution of the placenta exerted selective pressure to imprint growth-related genes. We also propose that non-coding RNAs and histone modifications were adopted for the imprinting of growth suppressors on the X chromosome and on autosomes. This provides a unified hypothesis for the evolution of X-chromosome inactivation and imprinting.

PMID: 15818385 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]