The peculiar genetics of the ribosomal DNA blurs the boundaries of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance.

The peculiar genetics of the ribosomal DNA blurs the boundaries of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance.
Chromosome Res. 2018 Dec 04;:
Authors: Bughio F, Maggert KA
Abstract
Our goal is to draw a line-hypothetical in its totality but experimentally supported at each individual step-connecting the ribosomal DNA and the phenomenon of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance of induced phenotypes. The reasonableness of this hypothesis is offset by its implication, that many (or most) (or all) of the cases of induced-and-inherited phenotypes that are seen to persist for generations are instead unmapped induced polymorphisms in the ribosomal DNA, and thus are the consequence of the peculiar and enduringly fascinating genetics of the highly transcribed repeat DNA structure at that locus.
PMID: 30511202 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: Chromosome Research - December 4, 2018 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Bughio F, Maggert KA Tags: Chromosome Res Source Type: research