Imprinted Genes in Plants
A similar imprinting phenomenon has also been described in flowering plants (angiosperms). During fertilisation of the egg cell, a second, separate fertilization event gives rise to the endosperm, an extraembryonic structure that nourishes the embryo in a manner analogous to the mammalian placenta. Unlike the embryo, the endosperm is often formed from the fusion of two maternal cells with a male gamete. This results in a triploid genome. The uneven ratio of maternal to paternal genomes appears to be critical for seed development. Some genes are found to be expressed from both maternal genomes while others are expressed exclusively from the lone paternal copy.
Read more about this topic: Genomic Imprinting
Famous quotes containing the words genes and/or plants:
“Whether you want it or not,
your genes have a political past,
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your eyes a political color.
...
you walk with political steps
on political ground.”
—Wislawa Szymborska (b. 1923)
“So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.”
—Bible: New Testament, 1 Corinthians 3:7-9.