Imprinting articles from across Nature Portfolio

DNMT3A and DNMT3L form a complex to deposit DNA methylation in mammalian germ cells. Here, the authors report that loss-of-function of ADD domains of DNMT3A and/or DNMT3L has various impacts on DNA methylation landscapes in mouse oocytes and sperm.

Maternal RNA transcription plays an important role in maintaining vasculature in mouse placental development, associated with regulating gene expression, imprinting status and DNA methylation in the Dlk1-Dio3 imprinted domain.

In Caenorhabditis tropicalis, selective expression of genetic alleles from one parent but not the other can arise from maternally inherited small transcripts acting via the PIWI-interacting RNA host defence pathway.

Wu et al. show that mutations of the Polycomb repressive complex 2 gene, OsFIE2, result in asexual embryo formation in rice, suggesting a critical role of the epigenetic regulation in maintaining the quiescent state of the egg apparatus.

The maternal diet can impact offspring development, yet the mechanisms responsible for this remain largely unknown. New research shows that oocyte metabolites, specifically NAD⁺ and the methyl donor S-adenosylmethionine, can mediate the impact of maternal nutrient stress on the progeny through metabolic reprogramming in Drosophila.

The single-nucleus transcriptional atlas of Arabidopsis endosperm reveals variation in gene imprinting across endosperm compartments and cell cycle stages, and provides new evidence for the role of imprinting in balancing resource allocation in the developing seed.

Gavin Kelsey discusses the first reports of genomic imprinting in mammals and how they raised the profile of epigenetics in the study of mammalian development.

Seeds are products of successful fertilization involving the merging of maternal and paternal gametes. Interspecific pollination can often produce viable seeds but, on germination, these unwanted offspring are generally rejected by an epigenetic barrier, mediated by the endosperm.

The monoallelic expression of many imprinted genes in mammals depends on DNA methylation marks that originate from the germ cells. Recent studies in mice and fruit flies evoke a novel, transient mode of genomic imprinting in which oocyte-acquired histone H3 Lys27 trimethylation (H3K27me3) marks are transmitted to the zygote and modulate the allele specificity and timing of gene expression in the early embryo.