Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Determination of DNA Methylation of Imprinted Genes in Arabidopsis Endosperm
Published on: January 28, 2011
Genomic imprinting in plants: observations and evolutionary implications
1Department of Biological Sciences, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA 15282, USA. alleman@duq.edu
Abstract:
The epigenetic phenomenon of genomic imprinting occurs among both plants and animals. In species where imprinting is observed, there are parent-of-origin effects on the expression of imprinted genes in offspring. This review focuses on imprinting in plants with examples from maize, where gene imprinting was first described, and Arabidopsis. Our current understanding of imprinting in plants is presented in the context of cytosine methylation and imprinting in mammals, where developmentally essential genes are imprinted. Important considerations include the structure and organization of imprinted genes and the role of regional, differential methylation. Imprinting in plants may be related to other epigenetic phenomena including paramutation and transgene silencing. Finally, we discuss the role of gene structure and evolutionary implications of imprinting in plants.
Related Concept Videos
Epigenetic Regulation
Overview of Transposition and Recombination
Epigenetic Regulation
Genomic Imprinting and Inheritance
The expression of some genes depends on which parent passed the gene to the offspring, through a phenomenon known as...
Transgenic Plants
The first-ever transgenic plant was a tobacco plant developed in 1983 that showed resistance against the tobacco mosaic virus. Since then, many transgenic plants have been developed and commercialized for improving the agricultural, ornamental, and horticultural value of a crop plant. Transgenic...
Epigenetic Regulation
X-chromosome...

