Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 2, 2026

Pyrosequencing for Microbial Identification and Characterization
Published on: August 22, 2013
Identification, Characterization, and Heritability of Murine Metastable Epialleles: Implications for Non-genetic
Anastasiya Kazachenka1, Tessa M Bertozzi1, Marcela K Sjoberg-Herrera2
1Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EH, UK.
Abstract:
Generally repressed by epigenetic mechanisms, retrotransposons represent around 40% of the murine genome. At the Agouti viable yellow (Avy) locus, an endogenous retrovirus (ERV) of the intracisternal A particle (IAP) class retrotransposed upstream of the agouti coat-color locus, providing an alternative promoter that is variably DNA methylated in genetically identical individuals. This results in variable expressivity of coat color that is inherited transgenerationally. Here, a systematic genome-wide screen identifies multiple C57BL/6J murine IAPs with Avy epigenetic properties. Each exhibits a stable methylation state within an individual but varies between individuals. Only in rare instances do they act as promoters controlling adjacent gene expression. Their methylation state is locus-specific within an individual, and their flanking regions are enriched for CTCF. Variably methylated IAPs are reprogrammed after fertilization and re-established as variable loci in the next generation, indicating reconstruction of metastable epigenetic states and challenging the generalizability of non-genetic inheritance at these regions.
Related Concept Videos
Chromosomal Theory of Inheritance
Genomic Imprinting and Inheritance
The expression of some genes depends on which parent passed the gene to the offspring, through a phenomenon known as...
Inheritance of Chromatin Structures
Heritability
Non-nuclear Inheritance
Inheritance
Each gene exists in pairs, and the combination of these genes from both parents forms an individual's genotype. This genotype is a blueprint of potential traits. Examples of genotype...

