Structural inheritance
Structural inheritance is the transmission of a trait in a living organism by a self-perpetuating spatial structures. This is in contrast to the transmission of digital information such as is found in DNA sequences, which accounts for the vast majority of known genetic variation.
Examples of structural inheritance include the propagation of prions, the infectious proteins of diseases such as scrapie (in sheep and goats), bovine spongiform encephalopathy ('mad cow disease') and Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (although the protein-only hypothesis of prion transmission has been considered contentious until recently.) [1] Prions based on heritable protein structure also exist in yeast [2][3][4]. Structural inheritance has also been seen in the orientation of cilia in protozoans such as Paramecium[5] and Tetrahymena,[6]and 'handedness' of the spiral of the cell in Tetrahymena,[6] and shells of snails. Some organelles also have structural inheritance, such as the centriole, and the cell itself (defined by the plasma membrane) may also be an example of structural inheritance.
Various additional examples of structural inheritance are presented in the recent book Origination of Organismal Form.
External links
- "Colloquium: Self-Perpetuating Structural States in Biology, Disease, and Genetics". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 99 (Suppl 4): 16377–506. 2002.
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Notes and references
- ^ Soto C, Castilla J (2004). "The controversial protein-only hypothesis of prion propagation". Nat. Med. 10 (Suppl): S63–7. doi:10.1038/nm106910.1038/nm1069. PMID 15272271.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Masison DC, Wickner RB (1995). "Prion-inducing domain of yeast Ure2p and protease resistance of Ure2p in prion-containing cells". Science. 270 (5233): 93–5. PMID 7569955.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Tuite MF, Lindquist SL (1996). "Maintenance and inheritance of yeast prions". Trends Genet. 12 (11): 467–71. PMID 8973157.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Serio TR, Cashikar AG, Kowal AS, Sawicki GJ, Lindquist SL (2001). "Self-perpetuating changes in Sup35 protein conformation as a mechanism of heredity in yeast". Biochem. Soc. Symp. (68): 35–43. PMID 11573346.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Beisson J, Sonneborn TM (1965). "Cytoplasmic inheritance of the organization of the cell cortex in Paramecium Aurelia". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 53: 275–82. PMC 219507. PMID 14294056.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ a b Nelsen EM, Frankel J, Jenkins LM (1989). "Non-genic inheritance of cellular handedness". Development. 105 (3): 447–56. PMID 2612360.
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