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Journal ArticleDOI

Genetics of global gene expression.

01 Nov 2006-Nature Reviews Genetics (Nature Publishing Group)-Vol. 7, Iss: 11, pp 862-872
TL;DR: A new field of genetic analysis of global gene expression has emerged in recent years, driven by the realization that traditional techniques of linkage and association analysis can be applied to thousands of transcript levels measured by microarrays.
Abstract: A new field of genetic analysis of global gene expression has emerged in recent years, driven by the realization that traditional techniques of linkage and association analysis can be applied to thousands of transcript levels measured by microarrays. Genetic dissection of transcript abundance has shed light on the architecture of quantitative traits, provided a new approach for connecting DNA sequence variation with phenotypic variation, and improved our understanding of transcriptional regulation and regulatory variation.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This work has shown that despite continuous misunderstandings and controversies over its use and application, heritability remains key to the response to selection in evolutionary biology and agriculture, and to the prediction of disease risk in medicine.
Abstract: Heritability allows a comparison of the relative importance of genes and environment to the variation of traits within and across populations. The concept of heritability and its definition as an estimable, dimensionless population parameter was introduced by Sewall Wright and Ronald Fisher nearly a century ago. Despite continuous misunderstandings and controversies over its use and application, heritability remains key to the response to selection in evolutionary biology and agriculture, and to the prediction of disease risk in medicine. Recent reports of substantial heritability for gene expression and new estimation methods using marker data highlight the relevance of heritability in the genomics era.

1,716 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Overall estimates of genetic diversity and differentiation among populations confirm the biogeographic hypothesis that large panmictic oceanic populations have repeatedly given rise to phenotypically divergent freshwater populations and identify several novel regions showing parallel differentiation across independent populations.
Abstract: Next-generation sequencing technology provides novel opportunities for gathering genome-scale sequence data in natural populations, laying the empirical foundation for the evolving field of population genomics. Here we conducted a genome scan of nucleotide diversity and differentiation in natural populations of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). We used Illumina-sequenced RAD tags to identify and type over 45,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in each of 100 individuals from two oceanic and three freshwater populations. Overall estimates of genetic diversity and differentiation among populations confirm the biogeographic hypothesis that large panmictic oceanic populations have repeatedly given rise to phenotypically divergent freshwater populations. Genomic regions exhibiting signatures of both balancing and divergent selection were remarkably consistent across multiple, independently derived populations, indicating that replicate parallel phenotypic evolution in stickleback may be occurring through extensive, parallel genetic evolution at a genome-wide scale. Some of these genomic regions co-localize with previously identified QTL for stickleback phenotypic variation identified using laboratory mapping crosses. In addition, we have identified several novel regions showing parallel differentiation across independent populations. Annotation of these regions revealed numerous genes that are candidates for stickleback phenotypic evolution and will form the basis of future genetic analyses in this and other organisms. This study represents the first high-density SNP–based genome scan of genetic diversity and differentiation for populations of threespine stickleback in the wild. These data illustrate the complementary nature of laboratory crosses and population genomic scans by confirming the adaptive significance of previously identified genomic regions, elucidating the particular evolutionary and demographic history of such regions in natural populations, and identifying new genomic regions and candidate genes of evolutionary significance.

1,406 citations


Additional excerpts

  • ...analyses [42–47]....

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Journal ArticleDOI
01 Apr 2010-Nature
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that eQTLs near genes generally act by a mechanism involving allele-specific expression, and that variation that influences the inclusion of an exon is enriched within and near the consensus splice sites.
Abstract: Understanding the genetic mechanisms underlying natural variation in gene expression is a central goal of both medical and evolutionary genetics, and studies of expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) have become an important tool for achieving this goal. Although all eQTL studies so far have assayed messenger RNA levels using expression microarrays, recent advances in RNA sequencing enable the analysis of transcript variation at unprecedented resolution. We sequenced RNA from 69 lymphoblastoid cell lines derived from unrelated Nigerian individuals that have been extensively genotyped by the International HapMap Project. By pooling data from all individuals, we generated a map of the transcriptional landscape of these cells, identifying extensive use of unannotated untranslated regions and more than 100 new putative protein-coding exons. Using the genotypes from the HapMap project, we identified more than a thousand genes at which genetic variation influences overall expression levels or splicing. We demonstrate that eQTLs near genes generally act by a mechanism involving allele-specific expression, and that variation that influences the inclusion of an exon is enriched within and near the consensus splice sites. Our results illustrate the power of high-throughput sequencing for the joint analysis of variation in transcription, splicing and allele-specific expression across individuals.

1,325 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The principles of quantitative trait locus mapping are reviewed and insights about the genetic architecture of quantitative traits that have been obtained over the past decades are summarized.
Abstract: A major challenge in current biology is to understand the genetic basis of variation for quantitative traits. We review the principles of quantitative trait locus mapping and summarize insights about the genetic architecture of quantitative traits that have been obtained over the past decades. We are currently in the midst of a genomic revolution, which enables us to incorporate genetic variation in transcript abundance and other intermediate molecular phenotypes into a quantitative trait locus mapping framework. This systems genetics approach enables us to understand the biology inside the 'black box' that lies between genotype and phenotype in terms of causal networks of interacting genes.

1,155 citations

01 Jan 2001
TL;DR: Genetical genomics as discussed by the authors combines the power of genomics and genetics in a way that is likely to become instrumental in the further unravelling of metabolic, regulatory and developmental pathways.
Abstract: The recent successes of genome-wide expression profiling in biology tend to overlook the power of genetics. We here propose a merger of genomics and genetics into ‘genetical genomics’. This involves expression profiling and marker-based fingerprinting of each individual of a segregating population, and exploits all the statistical tools used in the analysis of quantitative trait loci. Genetical genomics will combine the power of two different worlds in a way that is likely to become instrumental in the further unravelling of metabolic, regulatory and developmental pathways.

952 citations

References
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Book
01 Jan 1930

14,612 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This work proposes an approach to measuring statistical significance in genomewide studies based on the concept of the false discovery rate, which offers a sensible balance between the number of true and false positives that is automatically calibrated and easily interpreted.
Abstract: With the increase in genomewide experiments and the sequencing of multiple genomes, the analysis of large data sets has become commonplace in biology. It is often the case that thousands of features in a genomewide data set are tested against some null hypothesis, where a number of features are expected to be significant. Here we propose an approach to measuring statistical significance in these genomewide studies based on the concept of the false discovery rate. This approach offers a sensible balance between the number of true and false positives that is automatically calibrated and easily interpreted. In doing so, a measure of statistical significance called the q value is associated with each tested feature. The q value is similar to the well known p value, except it is a measure of significance in terms of the false discovery rate rather than the false positive rate. Our approach avoids a flood of false positive results, while offering a more liberal criterion than what has been used in genome scans for linkage.

9,239 citations

Journal ArticleDOI

8,446 citations


"Genetics of global gene expression...." refers background in this paper

  • ...Nevertheless, routine observation of QTLs that explain a substantial fraction of phenotypic variance contradicts the infinitesimal theory of Fisher 30 , in which quantitative traits are determined by a very large number of loci with very small effects....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The synthesis of enzymes in bacteria follows a double genetic control, which appears to operate directly at the level of the synthesis by the gene of a shortlived intermediate, or messenger, which becomes associated with the ribosomes where protein synthesis takes place.

5,588 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Nov 1994-Genetics
TL;DR: An empirical method is described, based on the concept of a permutation test, for estimating threshold values that are tailored to the experimental data at hand, and is demonstrated using two real data sets derived from F(2) and recombinant inbred plant populations.
Abstract: The detection of genes that control quantitative characters is a problem of great interest to the genetic mapping community. Methods for locating these quantitative trait loci (QTL) relative to maps of genetic markers are now widely used. This paper addresses an issue common to all QTL mapping methods, that of determining an appropriate threshold value for declaring significant QTL effects. An empirical method is described, based on the concept of a permutation test, for estimating threshold values that are tailored to the experimental data at hand. The method is demonstrated using two real data sets derived from F(2) and recombinant inbred plant populations. An example using simulated data from a backcross design illustrates the effect of marker density on threshold values.

4,964 citations