Plant epigenetics

نویسنده

  • Judith Bender
چکیده

Introduction Epigenetic changes in gene expression have fascinated scientists over several decades. These processes have received particular attention in plants, where they can result in beautiful variations in conspicuous phenotypes such as pigmentation. Epigenetic control is also a key issue in the development of transgenic plants with appropriate expression from newly introduced transgene segments. The term ‘epigenetic’ refers to heritable gene expression patterns determined by how the DNA of a gene is packaged rather than its primary DNA sequence. Within tightly packed DNA, genes are not readily available to the transcription machinery and are poorly expressed. Normally the patterns of DNA packaging are carefully controlled to give predictable patterns of gene expression. However, the process can occasionally go awry to cause altered gene expression. This primer will focus on well characterized examples of epigenetic changes in plants that shed light on the mechanisms underlying this fundamental gene control process.

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عنوان ژورنال:
  • Current Biology

دوره 12  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2002