Equality of the sexes? Parent-of-origin effects on transcription and de novo mutations

Abstract

Two main categories of the parent-of-origin effects are reviewed in this chapter: parent-of-origin effects on transcription, or genomic imprinting, and parent-of-origin effects on the development of de novo mutations. Each type of parent-of-origin effect is described, and the mechanisms that contribute to each discussed. The parent-of-origin effect database provides a catalog reports of genomic imprinting and related effects as well as reports of the parental origin of spontaneous mutations. This database provides a useful tool for finding genes, diseases, or traits that exhibit a parent-of-origin effect in humans and animals, conducting comparative analyses of the imprinted genes among different species, and examining the role of parent-of-origin effects for different types of spontaneous mutations in human genes.