In fact, the two experiments do not only differ in the way the embryos were isolated (discussed elsewhere [6]) but in at least two other respects (Figure 1): First, different hybrid combinations, Ler x Col [ 3] and Cvi x Col [ 4] were used. Cvi is being known for its singular epigenetic Selleck 17-AAG configuration involving atypical DNA methylation and transposon insertion patterns as well as structural heterochromatin phenotypes reminiscent of a dominant-negative effect on RdDM control [ 7]. In this respect, the results reported by Nodine and Bartel [ 4] would be clearly consistent with our former conclusion [ 3] that embryos maternally deficient

in RdDM components show a precocious bi-allelic expression of many genes. Alternatively, the diverging genetic relatedness of Cvi with Col and Ler may influence parental contributions in hybrid embryos,

consistent with our proposition that the maternal control of paternal expression is expected to become weaker with selleck chemicals increasing genetic distance [ 3]. Second, while we profiled mRNAs irrespective of their polyadenylation status, the other study specifically analyzed polyadenylated mRNAs [ 4]. In animals, cytoplasmic poly(A)-elongation is prevalent as a mechanism for the regulation of maternal mRNAs during early development [ 8]. Although data with respect to polyadenylation of plant mRNAs is scarce, it is possible that different mRNAs subpopulations were studied in the two experiments. Given that alternative polyadenylation during development is highly dynamic in plants, that Arabidopsis has a cytoplasmic polyadenylase, and that maternal mRNAs populations with short poly(A)-tails have been reported in maize and rice [ 9, 10 and 11] this seems a plausible scenario. Polyadenylated mRNA might represent a distinctive fraction of the embryonic pool of mRNA possibly under-representing maternally provided transcripts. Given these possible biological differences, future investigations on the mechanisms and natural variation in plant zygotic genome activation promise to

shed new light onto this essential phase of the plant life cycle, which has consequences for many basic and applied aspects of plant biology. “
“Current Opinion in Genetics & Development 2014, 24:38–45 This review comes from a themed issue on Cancer genomics GBA3 Edited by David J Adams and Ultan McDermott For a complete overview see the Issue and the Editorial Available online 27th December 2013 0959-437X/$ – see front matter, © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gde.2013.11.003 The wealth of genetic and transcriptomic data in cancer biology, accumulated through international cancer efforts such as The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC), present unprecedented opportunities for identifying therapeutically meaningful targets. A major challenge in genomic approaches has been the lack of appropriate model systems in which to test these on a large scale.