Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 20, 2026

Single Oocyte Bisulfite Mutagenesis
Published on: June 27, 2012
The potential role of gene duplications in the evolution of imprinting mechanisms
1Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken, Germany.
Abstract:
Using the completed genomic sequences of mouse and human we performed a comparative analyses of imprinted genes and gene clusters. For many imprinted genes we could detect imprinted as well as non-imprinted paralogues. The inter- and intrachromosomal similarities between paralogues and their linkage to imprinting clusters suggests that imprinted genes were dispersed throughout the genome by gene duplications as well as translocation and transposition events. Our findings indicate that imprinting clusters may have been linked together on one (or a few) ancestral pre-imprinted chromosome(s), arguing for a common mechanistic origin of imprinting control. Imprinting may originally have evolved on a simple basis of dosage compensation required for some duplicated genes (chromosomes) followed by selection of sex-biased expression control.
Related Concept Videos
Gene Duplication and Divergence
The duplicated copies of the gene are called Paralogs. Paralogs with similar sequences and functions form a gene family. Across several species, a large number of gene families are characterized.
Genomic Imprinting and Inheritance
The expression of some genes depends on which parent passed the gene to the offspring, through a phenomenon known as...
Gene Families
Occasionally these regions can be adapted to take on new roles within the organism, becoming novel genes...
Exon Recombination
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon has three reading...
Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes
Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes

