Epigenetics of Royalty 英文参考文献.docVIP

Primer 1 EpigeneticsofRoyalty AlexandraChittka1*,LarsChittka2 1WolfsonInstituteforBiomedicalResearch,UniversityCollegeLondon,London,UnitedKingdom,2QueenMaryUniversityofLondon,ResearchCentreforPsychology, SchoolofBiologicalandChemicalSciences,London,UnitedKingdom Imagine—you’ve just been born, and your future looks bleak. After an all-too brief infancy when you’ll be cared for and fed, you’ll be forced into child labour, cleaning a dark and crowded home and caring for your many siblings. You’ll be subsequently putonguarddutytodefendyourhomeagainstviciousintruders. Ifyousurvive,you’llspendtherestofyourdayssearchingfortiny bits offoodfromephemeralsources,mostlynotforyourself,but forthecommunalpantry.Weekends?Holidays?Forgetit.Within afewweeks,you’llhaveworkedyourselftodeath.Moreover,you willneverhaveknownlove. honeybeegenes(10,157)aredifferentiallyexpressedinthebrains ofqueensandworkers[5,6].Astringofrecentstudiesfocusesona particulartypeofgeneregulation—theepigeneticcontrolofgene expression in the remarkable diphenism between queen and workerhoneybees[7,8].Epigenetics,here,refersto‘‘thestructural adaptation of chromosomal regions so as to register, signal, or perpetuatealteredactivitystates’’[9],inotherwords,adeparture fromthemoretraditionaldefinitionthatreferredtotheheritability ofsuchchanges,ortheirretentionthroughcelldivisions. Changes of chromatin structure affecting transcription are achieved mainly through histone modifications and DNA Your sister, on the other hand, will begin her career by first murdering her competitors, then sleeping around in grand style. During a string of orgies with thousands of participants, she will fornicatewithupto20males,whoare(literally!)readytodiefor the privilege. Upon her return home from such debauchery, she will be treated royally; indeed, for the rest of her life she will be surroundedbyloyalstaffwhowillfeed,cleanher,andcatertoher everyneed.Ifsheshouldeverhavetoleavehome(whichhappens rarely)shewillbeaccompaniedbythousand