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Molecular Plant Advance Access published online on April 8, 2009
Molecular Plant, doi:10.1093/mp/ssp020
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© The Author 2009. Published by the Molecular Plant Shanghai Editorial Office in association with Oxford University Press on behalf of CSPP and IPPE, SIBS, CAS.

Paramutation: A Heritable Change in Gene Expression by Allelic Interactions In Trans

Maike Stam1

Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands

1 To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail m.e.stam{at}uva.nl, fax +31-20-5257935, tel. +31-20-5257655.

Epigenetic gene regulation involves the stable propagation of gene activity states through mitotic, and sometimes even meiotic, cell divisions without changes in DNA sequence. Paramutation is an epigenetic phenomenon involving changes in gene expression that are stably transmitted through mitosis as well as meiosis. These heritable changes are mediated by in trans interactions between homologous DNA sequences on different chromosomes. During these in trans interactions, epigenetic information is transferred from one allele of a gene to another allele of the same gene, resulting in a change in gene expression. Although paramutation was initially discovered in plants, it has recently been observed in mammals as well, suggesting that the mechanisms underlying paramutation might be evolutionarily conserved. Recent findings point to a crucial role for small RNAs in the paramutation process. In mice, small RNAs appear sufficient to induce paramutation, whereas in maize, it seems not to be the only player in the process. In this review, potential mechanisms are discussed in relation to the various paramutation phenomena.

Key Words: Paramutation • in trans interactions • epigenetics • epigenetic memory • RNAi • RdDM • physical pairing • silencing


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