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Definition

noun, plural: maternal-effect genes

(1) A gene from the mother's genome in which its phenotype in the zygote is influenced from the mother's genotype, not from the zygote's.

(2) A gene from the maternal genome whose products are required for the early development of the embryo, such as the establishment of the overall polarity of the embryo.

Supplement

By maternal-effect, it means that during development the embryo does not express the products from this gene; it inherits the products synthesized from the gene of the mother (and the synthesis occurs well before fertilization).

Maternal-effect genes are required for the normal development of the embryo. They produce transcription products that establish polarity. These genes also determine the basic body plan of the embryo. In Drosophila embryogenesis, examples of maternal genes are bicoid, nanos and caudal.

Also called: maternal gene.

Synonyms:

• egg polarity gene
• coordinate gene

Compare: paternal-effect gene, zygotic-effect gene.