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PMID: 10999402 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. Review

Nucleolar dominance: uniparental gene silencing on a multi-megabase scale in genetic hybrids.

Plant molecular biology ·Vol. 43 ·No. 2-3 ·2000-06-00 ·Pages 163-77

Pikaard CS

Abstract

Nucleolar dominance is a phenomenon in hybrids or allopolyploids in which nucleoli form on chromosomes inherited from only one of the two parents. The molecular basis for nucleolar dominance is the transcription by RNA polymerase I of only one parental set of ribosomal RNA genes (rRNA genes). These rRNA genes are clustered by the hundreds, or thousands, of copies, often spanning tens of millions of basepairs of chromosomal DNA at loci known as nucleolus organizer regions (NORs). Enforcement of nucleolar dominance appears to be accomplished by selectively silencing one set of rRNA genes via chemical modifications of chromatin. However, the mechanisms responsible for initially discriminating among the parental sets of rRNA genes and establishing nucleolar dominance remain unclear. Possibilities include mechanisms that act on each rRNA gene or mechanisms that affect whole NORs or even larger chromosomal domains. This review provides a historical perspective of nucleolar dominance research, explores the most popular hypotheses and their shortcomings, and offers some speculations concerning alternative hypotheses to be considered.

MeSH Terms
Chimera DNA, Plant/genetics Gene Expression Regulation, Plant Gene Silencing Genes, rRNA/genetics Nucleolus Organizer Region/genetics
Chemicals
DNA, Plant
Authors & Affiliations
1 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Pikaard C S
Biology Department, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA. pikaard@biology.wustl.edu
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Article Info
Journal
Plant molecular biology
Abbr.
Plant Mol Biol
ISSN
0167-4412
DOI
10.1023/a:1006471009225
Email
pikaard@biology.wustl.edu
Published
2000-06-00
Pages
163-77
Language
English
Region
Netherlands
NLM ID
9106343
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1023/a:1006471009225 View journal details
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