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Review
. 2005 Feb;8(1):19-25.
doi: 10.1016/j.pbi.2004.11.011.

Genomic imprinting in plants: the epigenetic version of an Oedipus complex

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Review

Genomic imprinting in plants: the epigenetic version of an Oedipus complex

Daphné Autran et al. Curr Opin Plant Biol. 2005 Feb.

Abstract

Genomic imprinting is a mitotically stable epigenetic modification that results in the functional non-equivalency of both parental genomes following fertilization. In flowering plants, studies of parent-of-origin effects have mostly identified genes that are only transcribed from a maternally inherited allele. In Arabidopsis, the Polycomb group protein MEDEA regulates seed development through the expression of the MADS-box gene PHERES1. Activation of the maternal MEDEA allele requires the function of DEMETER, a plant DNA glycosylase that also controls the transcriptional activity of the maternally inherited allele of the late-flowering gene FWA. Current studies of parent-of-origin effects have mostly identified genes that are only transcribed from a maternally inherited allele. Our current understanding of parent-of-origin effects could represent a new form of an Oedipus complex in which flowering plants prefer to rely transcriptionally on their maternal rather than their paternal chromosomes to ensure normal initiation of seed development.

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