Year: 2004
Type: preprint
Abstract: The molecular nature of the inherited variation that underlies morphological and biochemical diversity generallyis assumed to be genetic. In other words, the range of formamong individuals and species is caused by changes in primary nucleotide sequence. This view has been cementedby countless studies defining the molecular genetic basisof important changes driving alternative developmentalprograms or characterizing evolutionary lineages. However, it is becoming increasingly evident that nongeneticalterations can have a striking impact on the morphologyand physiology of cells and organisms. Such epigeneticalterations, which do not change nucleotide sequence butdo affect the expression of this genetic information, caninvolve diverse mechanisms, including chromatin structural modifications and steady-state regulatory networks.A growing list of epigenetic alterations have been inducedand studied in laboratory settings, and a few examples ofspontaneous epigenetic alleles in a natural context havebeen reported...
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2162072280