Genomic imprinting, disrupted placental expression, and speciation.

ABSTRACT: The importance of regulatory incompatibilities to the early stages of speciation remains unclear. Hybrid mammals often show extreme parent-of-origin growth effects that are thought to be a consequence of disrupted genetic imprinting (parent-specific epigenetic gene silencing) during early development. Here, we test the long-standing hypothesis that abnormal hybrid growth reflects disrupted gene expression due to loss of imprinting (LOI) in hybrid placentas, resulting in dosage imbalances between paternal growth factors and maternal growth repressors. We analyzed placental gene expression in reciprocal dwarf hamster hybrids that show extreme parent-of-origin growth effects relative to their parental species. In massively enlarged hybrid placentas, we observed both extensive transgressive ex

SUBMITTER: Brekke TD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5123974 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature