Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations
Published on: February 3, 2023
Comparative genomics approach toward critical determinants for the imprinting of an evolutionarily conserved gene
Kohji Okamura1, Yoshiyuki Sakaki, Takashi Ito
1Human Genome Center, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan.
Abstract:
The Impact is an evolutionarily conserved gene subjected to genomic imprinting in mouse but not in human. A characteristic tandem repeat similar to those found in many other imprinted genes and an elevated expression level, both observed only for the mouse gene, are implicated in the evolution of imprinting, to which the repeat might have contributed via enhancement of the expression. To pursue the possibility further, we examined the correlation among the repeat, expression level, and imprinting of Impact in various mammals ranging from rodents, lagomorphs, carnivores, artiodactyls to primates. Intriguingly, rabbit Impact is abundantly expressed and imprinted like those of rodents, but is missing the repeat from its first intron like those of other mammals that express both alleles weakly. It thus seems that lineage-specific enhancement of gene expression rather than the tandem repeat per se played a critical role in the evolution of imprinting of Impact.
Related Concept Videos
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 Evolution - Fast or Slow?
In contrast, regions which code...
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons
Cis-regulatory Sequences
Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes
Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes

