The peculiar genetics of the ribosomal DNA blurs the boundaries of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance

Farah Bughio, Keith A. Maggert

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

Our goal is to draw a line—hypothetical in its totality but experimentally supported at each individual step—connecting the ribosomal DNA and the phenomenon of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance of induced phenotypes. The reasonableness of this hypothesis is offset by its implication, that many (or most) (or all) of the cases of induced-and-inherited phenotypes that are seen to persist for generations are instead unmapped induced polymorphisms in the ribosomal DNA, and thus are the consequence of the peculiar and enduringly fascinating genetics of the highly transcribed repeat DNA structure at that locus.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)19-30
Number of pages12
JournalChromosome Research
Volume27
Issue number1-2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 15 2019

Keywords

  • Epigenetics
  • Ribosomal DNA
  • rDNA

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Genetics

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