Genomic imprinting in plants

Genomic imprinting has evolved only in mammals and flowering plants and it has been hypothesized that the function of genomic imprinting and imprinted genes is to regulate the nutrient transfer from the mother to the offspring. Consequently, imprinted genes should be seed size regulators. We recently achieved the genome-wide identification of imprinted genes and we currently identify the functional role of imprinted genes for seed development and plant speciation.  We furthermore elucidate the underlying epigenetic mechanisms establishing parent-of-origin-specific gene expression.

Related Publications:

Köhler C, Wolff P, Spillane C (2012) Epigenetic mechanisms underlying genomic imprinting in plants. Annu Rev Plant Biol., 63: 331-352. (Medline)

McKeown PC, Laouielle-Duprat S, Prins P, Wolff P, Schmid MW, Donoghue MT, Fort A, Duszynska D, Comte A, Lao NT, Wennblom TJ, Smant G, Kohler C, Grossniklaus U, Spillane C. (2011) Identification of imprinted genes subject to parent-of-origin specific expression in Arabidopsis thaliana seeds. BMC Plant. Biol.11:113. (Medline)

Wolff P, Weinhofer I, Seguin J, Roszak P, Beisel C, Donoghue MT, Spillane C, Nordborg M, Rehmsmeier M, Köhler C (2011) High-Resolution Analysis of Parent-of-Origin Allelic Expression in the Arabidopsis Endosperm. PLoS Genet. 6:e102126 (Medline)

Köhler C, Kradolfer D. (2011) Epigenetic mechanisms in the endosperm and their consequences for the evolution of flowering plants. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1809: 438-43. (Medline)

Villar, B.R., Erilova, A., Makarevich, G., Trösch, R., Köhler, C. (2009) Control of PHERES1 imprinting in Arabidopsis by direct tandem repeats. Mol. Plant, 2:654-660. (Medline)

Makarevich, G., Villar, C.B.R., Erilova, A., Köhler, C. (2008) Mechanism of PHERES1 imprinting in Arabidopsis. J. Cell Science, 121: 906-912. (Medline)

Köhler, C, Makarevich, G. (2006) Epigenetic mechanisms governing seed development in plants. EMBO Rep. 7:1223-1227. (Medline)

Makarevich, G., Leroy, O., Akinci, U., Schubert, D., Clarenz, O., Goodrich, J., Grossniklaus, U., Köhler, C. (2006) Different Polycomb group complexes regulate common target genes in Arabidopsis. EMBO Rep. 7:947-952. (Medline)

Köhler, C., Page, D.R., Gagliardini, V., Grossniklaus, U. (2005) The Arabidopsis MEDEA PcG protein controls expression of PHERES1 by parental imprinting. Nature Gen., 37, 28-30. (Medline)

Köhler, C., Hennig, L., Spillane, C., Pien, S., Gruissem, W., Grossniklaus, U. (2003). The Polycomb group protein MEDEA regulates seed development by controlling expression of the MADS-box gene PHERES1. Genes Dev., 17, 1540-1553. (Medline)

Köhler, C., Hennig, L., Bouveret, R., Gheyselinck, J., Grossniklaus, U. Gruissem, W. (2003). AtMSI1 is a component of an Arabidopsis PcG complex and essential for seed development. EMBO J., 22, 4804-4814. (Medline)

Köhler, C., Grossniklaus, U. (2002). Epigenetic inheritance of expression states in plant development: the role of Polycomb group proteins. Curr. Opin. Cell. Biol. 14, 773-779. (Medline)