Gene imprinting is an epistatic regulatory mechanism that regulates the expression of small and medium-sized genes in plants, resulting in the expression of only one of the paternal or maternal alleles of the same gene. At the same time, the other one is not expressed or has little expression. DNA methylation is the basis of the imprinting process, and the identification of imprinted genes and the study of their regulatory mechanisms are of great significance. Unlike mammals, where hundreds of imprinted genes have been identified with multiple essential functions in development, only a minimal number of imprinted genes have been identified in plants. Against this background, Lifeasible offers services for the identification and analysis of imprinted genes in plants, as well as the occurrence of gene imprinting and DNA methylation correlation analysis.

Methylation is often associated with silencing non-expressed alleles, making it an easy marker for imprinted genes. However, differential methylation patterns are possible in tissues where both alleles are expressed. We can identify novel imprinted genes through a combination of techniques and systematically analyze the evolutionary conservation of plant-imprinted genes to explain the species-specificity of plant-imprinted genes better. We can also analyze whether there is a close correlation between the occurrence of imprinted genes and DNA methylation through genome methylation analysis, providing technical support for you to explore the main drivers of imprinted gene occurrence.

• Sample collection and mRNA-seq
• SNP detection and identification of SNP-associated reads
• Detection of imprinted SNPs
• Imprinted gene validation and expression analysis
• Functional characterization of imprinted features
• Bisulfite sequencing and/or bisulfite microarrays
• Differential methylation region (DMR) analysis

After detecting the imprinted gene, we can also clone and characterize it, including cloning the coding sequence of the imprinted gene, bioinformatics, tissue expression, promoter, and imprinting characterization. This will reveal the mechanism of action of the gene and provide technical services for studying the regulation of imprinted gene expression and biological function.

• We have used paired-end sequencing, which reads sequences from both ends of the cDNA, to help identify only certain splice variants of imprinted genes.
• Our use of single-cell imprintome analysis will allow more studies to be carried out on different plant tissues at different points in time during development, which will still make it possible to identify more imprinted genes.

Imprinted genes in plants, like those in animals, can be involved in various subcellular processes during early development, including metabolic processes. Lifeasible offers services for screening, detecting, and characterizing imprinted genes; please feel free to contact us for a customized solution.

*If your organization requires the signing of a confidentiality agreement, please contact us by email.

For research use only, not intended for any clinical use.

Related Services

• Analysis of Transposable Elements
• Synthesis of Plant Artificial Chromosomes
• Gene Expression Assays
• Epigenome Mapping