text: The alleles that cause heritable changes in the alleles they come into contact which are called paramutagenic, and the alleles modified by them are paramutable. Alleles that do not take part in this interaction are called neutral. When present together in an organism, the paramutable allele is converted to the paramutagenic allele, and retains its paramutagenicity in subsequent generations. No change in DNA sequence accompanies this transformation, but instead epigenetic modifications (e.g. DNA methylation) differentiate the paramutagenic from paramutable alleles. In most cases, it is the paramutable allele that is highly transcribed and the paramutagenic allele that undergoes little to no transcription.
  The first described and most extensively researched example is the r1 locus in maize. The gene at this locus, when actively transcribed, codes for a transcription factor that promotes anthocyanin production, resulting in kernels with a purple color. One allele at this locus, referred to as B’, is capable of causing methylation at the other allele, B-I. This methylation results in reduced transcription and, as a result, decreased anthocyanin production. These alleles do not differ in DNA sequence, but they do differ in their degree of DNA methylation. As with other examples of paramutation, this change of the B-I allele to the B’ allele is stable and heritable. Other, similar examples of paramutation exist at other maize loci, as well as in other plants such as the model system Arabidopsis thaliana and transgenic petunias.
  Paramutation has also been documented in animals such as fruit flies, C. elegans, and mice.