Genomic Imprinting

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XIII

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2. Kinship and Genomic Imprinting

   • Robert Trivers, Austin Burt

   Pages 1-21

3. Genomic Imprinting in Plants

   • Joachim Messing, Ueli Grossniklaus

   Pages 23-40

4. Imprinting and Paternal Genome Elimination in Insects

   • Glenn Herrick, Jon Seger

   Pages 41-71

5. Imprinting and X-Chromosome Inactivation

   • Mary F. Lyon

   Pages 73-90

6. The Mechanisms of Genomic Imprinting

   • Bernhard Horsthemke, Azim Surani, Tharapell James, Rolf Ohlsson

   Pages 91-118

7. Human Diseases and Genomic Imprinting

   • Judith G. Hall

   Pages 119-132

8. Genomic Imprinting and Cancer

   • Benjamin Tycko

   Pages 133-169

9. Mechanisms of Transcriptional Regulation

   • Gary C. Franklin

   Pages 171-187

10. Epigenetic Control of Gene Expression

    • Aharon Razin, Ruth Shemer

    Pages 189-204

11. Polycomb Silencing and the Maintenance of Stable Chromatin States

    • Vincenzo Pirrotta

    Pages 205-228

12. Domains and Boundaries in Chromosomes

    • Tatiana I. Gerasimova, Victor G. Corces

    Pages 229-249

13. A Role for Modifier Genes in Genome Imprinting

    • C. Cristofre Martin, Carmen Sapienza

    Pages 251-270

14. Allelic trans-sensing and Imprinting

    • Andràs Pàldi, Yann Jouvenot

    Pages 271-282

15. Nuclear Architecture

    • Wallace F. Marshall, John W. Sedat

    Pages 283-301

16. Back Matter

    Pages 303-330

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The form and function of every living organism on the earth depends on the complex regulation of gene expression. This is carried out by controlling and interdigitating spatial and temporal patterns of gene activity during the life­ time of eukaryotic organisms. This is most dramatically apparent during early stages of development, when new types of cells and organs are being formed, often during very short time spans. To achieve this, it is vital that developmentally important genes can be kept in inactive or active states which are stably inherited in the soma. Indeed, it is now wellknown that the propen­ sity for a gene to be transcribed or silenced is stably propagated through many cell generations, even from parent to progeny. This phenomenon constitutes a type of extragenetic or epigenetic memory of cell identity and developmental potential which has been fundamental to the evolution of complex lifeforms, such as the reader of this book. This monograph focuses on a particular aspect of the epigenetic control of gene function: genomic imprinting. This defines a phenomenon where some genes or whole chromosomes can be silenced, activated, or even deleted depending on their parental origin. The impact of genomic imprinting is most clearly seen in the areas of cancer, clinical genetics, and development. Many of the processes associated with genomic imprinting can be observed in plants, yeast and man, for example, and may constitute, therefore, principles which are very conserved on an evolutionary scale.

• Activation
• biology
• cancer
• chromosome
• developmental biology
• evolution
• gene
• gene expression
• genetics
• genome
• influence
• insects
• molecular genetics
• regulation
• transcription

• Dept. of Animal Development and Genetics, University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden

  Rolf Ohlsson

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