Autosomiparia

Autosomiparia is a hypothetical genetic concept describing a mode of autosomal inheritance in which the expression of autosomal genes depends on the specific combination and origin of the two parental haplotypes, rather than on individual alleles alone. In this view, there are parent-of-origin effects that extend across multiple autosomal loci, producing distinct phenotypes depending on whether a given autosomal segment is inherited from the mother or the father. Autosomiparia, if present, would operate alongside traditional Mendelian inheritance and sex-chromosome biology, but would involve concerted regulation across autosomes.

The proposed mechanism involves coordinated epigenetic regulation and chromatin interactions that couple the activity of many autosomal genes. Potential contributors include allele-specific methylation patterns, non-coding RNAs that act in trans, and long-range chromatin looping that links groups of autosomal regions. The resulting phenotypic parity between parental autosomes could manifest as stable, tissue-specific differences in gene expression profiles, especially for polygenic traits such as development, metabolism, or growth.

Evidence for autosomiparia remains speculative and is a topic of theoretical debate. Researchers would look for genome-wide parent-of-origin effects on autosomes through trio sequencing, allele-specific expression analyses, and controlled crosses in model organisms to distinguish autosomal imprinting from other forms of epigenetic regulation. Criticisms emphasize the difficulty of separating autosomal parent-origin effects from known imprinting on autosomes, mosaicism, and environmental influences.

If validated, autosomiparia would have implications for understanding heritability, complex trait architecture, and the interpretation of genetic association studies, prompting a refinement of models that account for parental origin across the autosomal genome.