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Phenotypic variation hints the inadvertent consequences of the epigenetic silencing of transposable elements
Animals and plants can epigenetically silence a widespread genomic parasite, transposable element (TEs), to counteract TEs' selfish increase. However, studies on the genetic basis of a wide array of phenotypic traits suggested that the supposedly beneficial epigenetic silencing of TEs could inadvertently influence nearby host genes' functions. In these examples, the presence of a TE insertion, irrespective of TE type (IAP, MuLE, LINE, or GynohAT), is associated with nearby genes' silencing, contributing to variation in mouse coat color, color streaks in morning glory, bonsai-like Arabidopsis, and female flower of muskmelon. See Choi, Lee.
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Image Credit: Ramin Rahni
Citation: (2020) PLoS Genetics Issue Image | Vol. 16(7) August 2020. PLoS Genet 16(7): ev16.i07. https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pgen.v16.i07
Published: August 10, 2020
Copyright: © 2020 . This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Animals and plants can epigenetically silence a widespread genomic parasite, transposable element (TEs), to counteract TEs' selfish increase. However, studies on the genetic basis of a wide array of phenotypic traits suggested that the supposedly beneficial epigenetic silencing of TEs could inadvertently influence nearby host genes' functions. In these examples, the presence of a TE insertion, irrespective of TE type (IAP, MuLE, LINE, or GynohAT), is associated with nearby genes' silencing, contributing to variation in mouse coat color, color streaks in morning glory, bonsai-like Arabidopsis, and female flower of muskmelon. See Choi, Lee.
Download July's cover page.
Image Credit: Ramin Rahni