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Genomic Imprinting in Drosophila has properties of both mammalian and insect imprinting

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Abstract

Genomic imprinting is a process that marks DNA, causing a change in gene or chromosome behavior, depending on the sex of the transmitting parent. In mammals, most examples of genomic imprinting affect the transcription of individual or small clusters of genes whereas in insects, genomic imprinting tends to silence entire chromosomes. This has been interpreted as evidence of independent evolutionary origins for imprinting. To investigate how these types of imprinting are related, we performed a phenotypic, molecular, and cytological analysis of an imprinted chromosome in Drosophila melanogaster. Analysis of this chromosome reveals that the imprint results in transcriptional silencing. Yet, the domain of transcriptional silencing is very large, extending at least 1.2 Mb and encompassing over 100 genes, and is associated with decreased somatic polytenization of the entire chromosome. We propose that repression of somatic replication in polytenized cells, as a secondary response to the imprint, acts to extend the size of the imprinted domain to an entire chromosome. Thus, imprinting in Drosophila has properties of both typical mammalian and insect imprinting which suggests that genomic imprinting in Drosophila and mammals is not fundamentally different; imprinting is manifest as transcriptional silencing of a few genes or silencing of an entire chromosome depending on secondary processes such as differences in gene density and polytenization.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Scovil, L. McEachern, D. Kent, K. Fitzpatrick, and D. Sinclair for discussion and the Bloomington Stock Center for stocks. This work was funded by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council grant to VKL.

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Author notes

  1. Matthew Anaka

    Present address: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Melbourne Centre for Clinical Sciences, Department of Medicine, Austin Health, University of Melbourne, Studley Road, Heidelberg, Victoria, 3084, Australia

  2. Patrick McGinn

    Present address: Institute for Marine Biosciences, National Research Council of Canada, 1411 Oxford Street, Halifax, NS, B3H 3Z1, Canada

  3. Vett K. Lloyd

    Present address: Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Mt. Allison University, 63B York St., Sackville, NB, E4L 1G7, Canada

    Matthew Anaka, Patrick McGinn & Vett K. Lloyd

  2. Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada

    Audra Lynn

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  1. Matthew Anaka
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Correspondence to Vett K. Lloyd.

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Communicated by C. Desplan

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Anaka, M., Lynn, A., McGinn, P. et al. Genomic Imprinting in Drosophila has properties of both mammalian and insect imprinting. Dev Genes Evol 219, 59–66 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-008-0267-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-008-0267-3

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