Genetic conflicts in genomic imprinting

Abstract

The expression pattern of genes in mammals and plants can depend upon the parent from which the gene was inherited, evidence for a mechanism of parent–specific genomic imprinting. Kinship considerations are likely to be important in the natural selection of many such genes, because coefficients of relatedness will usually differ between maternally and paternally derived genes. Three classes of gene are likely to be involved in genomic imprinting: the imprinted genes themselves, trans–acting genes in the parents, which affect the application of the imprint, and trans–acting genes in the offspring, which recognize and affect the expression of the imprint. We show that coefficients of relatedness will typically differ among these three classes, thus engendering conflicts of interest between Imprinter genes, imprinted genes, and imprint–recognition genes, with probable consequences for the evolution of the imprinting machinery.