PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “QTL mapping”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 415 records · Page 23Linked to original sources

Simultaneous mapping of epistatic QTL in DU6i x DBA/2 mice.

We have mapped epistatic quantitative trait loci (QTL) in an F2 cross between DU6i x DBA/2 mice. By including these epistatic QTL and their interaction parameters in the genetic model, we were able to increase the genetic variance explained substantially (8.8%-128.3%) for several growth and body composition traits. We used an analysis method based on a simultaneous search for epistatic QTL pairs without assuming that the QTL had any effect individually. We were able to detect several QTL that could not be detected in a search for marginal QTL effects because the epistasis cancelled out the individual effects of the QTL. In total, 23 genomic regions were found to contain QTL affecting one or several of the traits and eight of these QTL did not have significant individual effects. We identified 44 QTL pairs with significant effects on the traits, and, for 28 of the pairs, an epistatic QTL model fit the data significantly better than a model without interactions. The epistatic pairs were classified by the significance of the epistatic parameters in the genetic model, and visual inspection of the two-locus genotype means identified six types of related genotype-phenotype patterns among the pairs. Five of these patterns resembled previously published patterns of QTL interactions.

Animals↗

Are the same genes responsible for intra- and interspecific variability for sex comb tooth number in Drosophila?

The identification of genes contributing to speciation has the potential to provide important insights into the mechanisms of evolution. One of the most interesting unresolved puzzles is the relationship between intraspecific variability in morphological traits and their interspecific divergence. Intraspecific polymorphisms without major detrimental side-effects may serve as a substrate for selection response during speciation. The same quantitative trait loci (QTLs) may, then, account for the trait variability both within and between species. In contrast, the vast majority of intraspecific variants could be deleterious mutations that have not yet been selected out. In this case intraspecific variation would not ultimately generate interspecific trait differences. In previous work, QTLs responsible for morphological differences between animal species, including those for the secondary sexual trait sex comb tooth number, have been mapped with the resolution of chromosome segments. Here, we mapped QTLs for which alleles segregated between two laboratory lines of Drosophila melanogaster. The two QTLs identified mapped to the X chromosome and accounted for only 8% of the between-line differences, implying that a large number of small-effect genes modify sex combs. One intraspecific QTL mapped to the same interval as the QTL for interspecific differences between D. simulans and D. mauritiana. Whether or not these effects result from the same genes requires further examination.

Animals↗

Genetic dissection of intermated recombinant inbred lines using a new genetic map of maize.

A new genetic map of maize, ISU-IBM Map4, that integrates 2029 existing markers with 1329 new indel polymorphism (IDP) markers has been developed using intermated recombinant inbred lines (IRILs) from the intermated B73xMo17 (IBM) population. The website http://magi.plantgenomics.iastate.edu provides access to IDP primer sequences, sequences from which IDP primers were designed, optimized marker-specific PCR conditions, and polymorphism data for all IDP markers. This new gene-based genetic map will facilitate a wide variety of genetic and genomic research projects, including map-based genome sequencing and gene cloning. The mosaic structures of the genomes of 91 IRILs, an important resource for identifying and mapping QTL and eQTL, were defined. Analyses of segregation data associated with markers genotyped in three B73/Mo17-derived mapping populations (F2, Syn5, and IBM) demonstrate that allele frequencies were significantly altered during the development of the IBM IRILs. The observations that two segregation distortion regions overlap with maize flowering-time QTL suggest that the altered allele frequencies were a consequence of inadvertent selection. Detection of two-locus gamete disequilibrium provides another means to extract functional genomic data from well-characterized plant RILs.

Alleles↗

Mapping QTLs for alpha-amylase activity in rye grain.

Genetic control of alpha-amylase activity in rye grain was investigated by QTL mapping based on DS2 x RXL10 intercross consisting of 99 F5-6 families propagated at one location during four vegetation seasons. A wide range of variation in alpha-amylase activity and transgression effects were found among families and parental lines. This variation was shown to be determined in 40.1% by 7 significant (LOD score not less than 2.5) and 2 putative QTLs (2 < LOD < 2.5) distributed on all rye chromosomes except 4R. Two significant QTLs located on 3RL and 5RL chromosome arms were expressed each year. The third significant QTL was detected in three years (1RL). The other four significant QTLs (2RL, 5RS, 6RL, 7RL) were found in one year of study. The number and composition of QTLs were specific for a given year varying from three to six. QTLs were not correlated with isoenzyme polymorphisms at the structural alpha-Amy1 loci. A QTL associated with a region containing the alpha-Amy3 locus was detected on chromosome 5RL. Both high- and low-activity QTL alleles were found in each parental line, which explains the appearance of transgressive recombinants in the segregating population.

Chromosome Mapping↗

Isolation and confirmation of a calcium excretion quantitative trait locus on chromosome 1 in genetic hypercalciuric stone-forming congenic rats.

Hypercalciuria is the most common risk factor for kidney stones and has a substantial genetic component. The genetic hypercalciuric stone-forming (GHS) rat model displays complex changes in physiology involving intestine, bone, and kidney and overexpression of the vitamin D receptor, thereby reproducing the human phenotype of idiopathic hypercalciuria. Through quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping of rats that were bred from GHS female rats and normocalciuric Wistar Kyoto (WKY) male rats, loci that are linked to hypercalciuria and account for a 6 to eight-fold phenotypic difference between the GHS and WKY progenitors were mapped. GHS x WKY rats were backcrossed to breed for congenic rats with the chromosome 1 QTL HC1 on a normocalciuric WKY background. Ten generations of backcrosses produced N10F1 rats, which were intercrossed to produce rats that were homozygous for GHS loci in the HC1 region between markers D1Mit2 and D1Mit32. On a high-calcium diet (1.2% calcium), significantly different levels of calcium excretion were found between male congenic (1.67 +/- 0.71 mg/24 h) and male WKY control rats (0.78 +/- 0.19 mg/24 h) and between female congenic (3.11 +/- 0.90 mg/24 h) and female WKY controls (2.11 +/- 0.50 mg/24 h); the congenics preserve the calcium excretion phenotype of the GHS parent strain. Microarray expression analyses of the congenic rats, compared with WKY rats, showed that of the top 100 most changed genes, twice as many as were statistically expected mapped to chromosome 1. Of these, there is a clear bias in gene expression change for genes in the region of the HC1. Of >1100 gene groups analyzed, one third of the 50 most differentially expressed gene groups have direct or secondary action on calcium metabolism or transport. This is the first QTL for hypercalciuria to be isolated in a congenic animal.

Animals↗

Mapping of genetic factors influencing the weight of cystic fibrosis knockout mice.

One of the poorly understood clinical manifestations of cystic fibrosis (CF) is low body weight. Mice in which the CF causative gene, cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (Cftr), has been knocked out reflect this as they are smaller than age-matched littermates. The variable weight of F2 Cftr -/- (CF) mice derived from a cross between congenic C57BL/6J and BALB/cJ Cftr heterozygotic mice permits the mapping of modifiers of this cystic fibrosis phenotype. In this report, quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping was used to identify the chromosomal locations of genes that contribute to the body weight of 12-week-old F2 CF mice. Five loci of CF body weight were detected with four of the five acting in a sex-specific manner. Significant linkage of the phenotype to a region of Chromosome (Chr) 13 from D13Mit179 to D13Mit254 (LOD = 4.2) was established in female mice; and suggestive loci on Chrs 7 and 10 were identified. The weights of F2 male CF mice were suggestively linked to regions of Chrs 1 and 6, and to the same locus on Chr 7 as in female mice. The suggestive loci did not influence the weight of the limited set of control mice and thus are presumed to be CF specific in their effects. Further study of these putative CF body weight modifiers may provide insight on the pathogenesis of cystic fibrosis.

Animals↗

AFLP linkage map of the Japanese quail Coturnix japonica.

The quail is a valuable farm and laboratory animal. Yet molecular information about this species remains scarce. We present here the first genetic linkage map of the Japanese quail. This comprehensive map is based solely on amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. These markers were developed and genotyped in an F2 progeny from a cross between two lines of quail differing in stress reactivity. A total of 432 polymorphic AFLP markers were detected with 24 TaqI/EcoRI primer combinations. On average, 18 markers were produced per primer combination. Two hundred and fifty eight of the polymorphic markers were assigned to 39 autosomal linkage groups plus the ZW sex chromosome linkage groups. The linkage groups range from 2 to 28 markers and from 0.0 to 195.5 cM. The AFLP map covers a total length of 1516 cM, with an average genetic distance between two consecutive markers of 7.6 cM. This AFLP map can be enriched with other marker types, especially mapped chicken genes that will enable to link the maps of both species and make use of the powerful comparative mapping approach. This AFLP map of the Japanese quail already provides an efficient tool for quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping.

Animals↗

Pleiotropic quantitative trait loci contribute to population divergence in traits associated with life-history variation in Mimulus guttatus.

Evolutionary biologists seek to understand the genetic basis for multivariate phenotypic divergence. We constructed an F2 mapping population (N = 539) between two distinct populations of Mimulus guttatus. We measured 20 floral, vegetative, and life-history characters on parents and F1 and F2 hybrids in a common garden experiment. We employed multitrait composite interval mapping to determine the number, effect, and degree of pleiotropy in quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting divergence in floral, vegetative, and life-history characters. We detected 16 QTL affecting floral traits; 7 affecting vegetative traits; and 5 affecting selected floral, vegetative, and life-history traits. Floral and vegetative traits are clearly polygenic. We detected a few major QTL, with all remaining QTL of small effect. Most detected QTL are pleiotropic, implying that the evolutionary shift between these annual and perennial populations is constrained. We also compared the genetic architecture controlling floral trait divergence both within (our intraspecific study) and between species, on the basis of a previously published analysis of M. guttatus and M. nasutus. Eleven of our 16 floral QTL map to approximately the same location in the interspecific map based on shared, collinear markers, implying that there may be a shared genetic basis for floral divergence within and among species of Mimulus.

Flowers↗

Genetic sensitivity to hot-plate nociception in DBA/2J and C57BL/6J inbred mouse strains: possible sex-specific mediation by delta2-opioid receptors.

The inbred mouse strains, DBA/2J (D2) and C57BL/6J (B6), display differential sensitivity to acute, thermal nociception as measured on the hot-plate (HP) assay. In an ongoing quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping study designed to reveal genomic loci showing genetic linkage to HP sensitivity, a putative QTL on chromosome 4 (50-80 cM from the centromere) has been identified that appears to account for variability in this trait in male, but not female mice. An obvious candidate gene located in this same chromosomal region is Oprd1, which encodes the murine delta-opioid receptor. In an attempt to evaluate whether Oprd1 represents this sex-specific QTL for HP sensitivity, we tested D2 and B6 mice of both sexes for HP latencies (hindpaw-lift, -lick or -flutter) following systemic injections of saline, or the opioid receptor antagonists naloxone (NAL; 0.1 and 10 mg/kg), nor-binaltorphimine (nor-BNI; 5 mg/kg), naltrindole (NTI; 5 mg/kg), 7-benzylidenenaltrexone (BNTX; 0.7 mg/kg), or naltriben (NTB; 1 mg/kg). High-dose (10 mg/kg) NAL lowered HP latencies in D2, but not B6 mice, suggesting that the higher HP latencies exhibited by D2 mice reflect opioid mechanisms. HP latencies in both strains and both sexes were unaffected by pretreatment with low-dose (0.1 mg/kg) NAL or nor-BNI, suggesting that neither mu nor kappa receptors affect basal nociceptive sensitivity. The delta-receptor antagonist, NTI, and the delta2-specific antagonist, NTB, (but not the delta1-specific antagonist, BNTX) effectively lowered HP latencies in a strain- and sex-dependent manner: D2 male > B6 male > D2 female > B6 female. These data support the possibility that Oprd1 is a QTL mediating HP sensitivity in mice, and more generally illustrate the important roles of genetic background and gender in the perception of pain.

Animals↗

Experimental strategies for the genetic dissection of complex traits in animal models.

Current success in detecting complex trait loci in general, and quantitative trait loci (QTLs) using model organisms in particular, has attracted major biological and biomedical interest. The potential ability to identify genes and their function provides opportunities for new diagnostics and treatments of complex genetic diseases. Despite the success in gene mapping, however, cloning of complex trait loci or QTLs is not straightforward. A major obstacle lies in achieving fine mapping resolution for the detected loci. Compared to the rapid development of sophisticated statistical and molecular tools, development and analysis of experimental designs for various stages in QTL mapping experiments have barely been considered. In this study, novel and existing experimental strategies for QTL analysis are presented and evaluated.

Animals↗

Pleiotropy, epistasis and new QTL: the genetic architecture of honey bee foraging behavior.

The regulation of division of labor in social insects, particularly in the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.), has received considerable attention from a number of biological subdisciplines, including quantitative and behavioral genetics, because of the high complexity of the behavioral traits involved. The foraging choices of honey bee workers can be accurately quantified, and previous studies have made the foraging behavior of honey bees one of the best studied naturally occurring behavioral phenotypes. Three quantitative trait loci (QTL) have been identified that influence a set of foraging variables, including the concentration of nectar collected and the amount of pollen and nectar brought back to the hive. This study extends previous genetic investigations and represents the most comprehensive investigation of the genetic architecture of these foraging variables. We examined the effects of markers for the three established QTL and for one further candidate gene (Amfor), in two reciprocal backcross populations. These populations were also used to carry out two new QTL mapping studies, with over 400 Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) markers in each. We detected a variety of effects of the genetic markers for the established QTL and the candidate gene, which were mostly epistatic in nature. A few new QTL could be detected with a variety of mapping techniques. Our results add complexity to the genetic architecture of the foraging behavior of the honey bee. Specifically, we support the hypotheses that pln1, pln2, pln3, and Amfor are involved in the regulation of foraging behavior in the honey bee and add some new factors that deserve further study in the future.

Animals↗

Genotype-environment interactions at quantitative trait loci affecting inflorescence development in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Phenotypic plasticity and genotype-environment interactions (GEI) play a prominent role in plant morphological diversity and in the potential functional capacities of plant life-history traits. The genetic basis of plasticity and GEI, however, is poorly understood in most organisms. In this report, inflorescence development patterns in Arabidopsis thaliana were examined under different, ecologically relevant photoperiod environments for two recombinant inbred mapping populations (Ler x Col and Cvi x Ler) using a combination of quantitative genetics and quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping. Plasticity and GEI were regularly observed for the majority of 13 inflorescence traits. These observations can be attributable (at least partly) to variable effects of specific QTL. Pooled across traits, 12/44 (27.3%) and 32/62 (51.6%) of QTL exhibited significant QTL x environment interactions in the Ler x Col and Cvi x Ler lines, respectively. These interactions were attributable to changes in magnitude of effect of QTL more often than to changes in rank order (sign) of effect. Multiple QTL x environment interactions (in Cvi x Ler) clustered in two genomic regions on chromosomes 1 and 5, indicating a disproportionate contribution of these regions to the phenotypic patterns observed. High-resolution mapping will be necessary to distinguish between the alternative explanations of pleiotropy and tight linkage among multiple genes.

Arabidopsis↗

Costly resistance to parasitism: evidence from simultaneous quantitative trait loci mapping for resistance and fitness in Tribolium castaneum.

Information on the molecular basis of resistance and the evolution of resistance is crucial to an understanding of the appearance, spread, and distribution of resistance genes and of the mechanisms of host adaptation in natural populations. One potential important genetic constraint for the evolution of resistance is fitness cost associated with resistance. To determine whether host resistance to parasite infection is associated with fitness costs, we conducted simultaneous quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping of resistance to parasite infection and fitness traits using the red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum) and the tapeworm parasite (Hymenolepis diminuta) system in two independent segregating populations. A genome-wide QTL scan using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers revealed three QTL for beetle resistance to tapeworm infection. These three QTL account for 44-58% variance in beetle infection intensity. We identified five QTL for fecundity and five QTL for egg-to-adult viability, which accounted for 36-57% and 36-49%, respectively, of the phenotypic variance in fecundity and egg-to-adult viability. The three QTL conferring resistance were colocalized with the QTL affecting beetle fitness. The genome regions that contain the QTL for parasite resistance explained the majority of the variance in fecundity and egg-to-adult viability in the mapping populations. Colocalization of QTL conferring resistance to parasite infection and beetle fitness may result from the pleiotropic effects of the resistance genes on host fitness or from tight linkages between resistance genes and adverse deleterious mutations. Therefore, our results provide evidence that the genome regions conferring resistance to tapeworm infection are partially responsible for fitness costs in the resistant beetle populations.

Animals↗

Detection of QTLs for heading time and photoperiod response in wheat using a doubled-haploid population.

The genetic basis of heading time in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was investigated through the study of flowering under normal autumn sown field conditions as well as photoperiod responses under a controlled environment. Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for these traits were mapped in a doubled-haploid (DH) population derived from a cross between the wheat cultivars 'Courtot' and 'Chinese Spring'. A molecular marker linkage map of this cross that was previously constructed based on 187 DH lines and 380 markers was used for QTL mapping. The genome was well covered (85%) except for chromosomes 1D and 4D, and a set of anchor loci regularly spaced over the genome (one marker each 15.5 cM) was chosen for marker regression analysis. The presence of a QTL was declared at a significance threshold of alpha = 0.005. The population was grown under field conditions in Clermont-Ferrand, France during two years (1994-1995), in Norwich, U.K. over one year (1998), and also under controlled environments in Norwich. For each trait, between 2 and 4 QTLs were identified with individual effects ranging between 6.3% and 44.4% of the total phenotypic variation. Two QTLs were detected that simultaneously affected heading time and photoperiod response. For heading time, these two QTLs were detected in more than one year. One QTL located on chromosome arm 2BS near the locus Xfbb121-2B, co-segregated with the gene Ppd-B1 known to be involved in photoperiod response. This chromosome region explained a large part of the variation (23.4-44.4% depending on the years or the traits). Another region located on chromosome arm 7BS between the loci Xfbb324-7B and Xfbb53-7B also had a strong effect (7.3-15.3%). This region may correspond to a QTL for earliness per se.

Chromosome Mapping↗

[Reviewed on wheat genome].

Research development of genetic mapping,physics mapping,genome sequencing and expressed sequence tags in wheat have been reviewed in this paper. RFLP genetic linkage map of wheat recombinant inbred lines derived from W7984 x Opata, was used to study QTL of 33 traits associated with water use efficiency. Compared with QTL map of 7 group homeologues chromosomes, the results were showed as follows: nearby the centromeric region of 1A and 1B chromosome, the gene cluster of controlling photosynthetic and root traits were located. The gene clusters of controlling water use efficiency per plant,root and plant height and growth rate were located on the 2 group chromosomes. The gene clusters of controlling root traits were located on the 6A an 6B chromosome, there was a big gene cluster mad up by 7 QTLs controlling water use efficiency of wheat leaf and per plant nearby the centromeric region of 6D chromosome. It showed that 6th homologous chromosomes play an important role in controlling water use efficiency in wheat.

English Abstract↗

Quantitative trait loci and candidate gene mapping of aluminum tolerance in diploid alfalfa.

Aluminum (Al) toxicity in acid soils is a major limitation to the production of alfalfa (Medicago sativa subsp. sativa L.) in the USA. Developing Al-tolerant alfalfa cultivars is one approach to overcome this constraint. Accessions of wild diploid alfalfa (M. sativa subsp. coerulea) have been found to be a source of useful genes for Al tolerance. Previously, two genomic regions associated with Al tolerance were identified in this diploid species using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers and single marker analysis. This study was conducted to identify additional Al-tolerance quantitative trait loci (QTLs); to identify simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers that flank the previously identified QTLs; to map candidate genes associated with Al tolerance from other plant species; and to test for co-localization with mapped QTLs. A genetic linkage map was constructed using EST-SSR markers in a population of 130 BC(1)F(1) plants derived from the cross between Al-sensitive and Al-tolerant genotypes. Three putative QTLs on linkage groups LG I, LG II and LG III, explaining 38, 16 and 27% of the phenotypic variation, respectively, were identified. Six candidate gene markers designed from Medicago truncatula ESTs that showed homology to known Al-tolerance genes identified in other plant species were placed on the QTL map. A marker designed from a candidate gene involved in malic acid release mapped near a marginally significant QTL (LOD 2.83) on LG I. The SSR markers flanking these QTLs will be useful for transferring them to cultivated alfalfa via marker-assisted selection and for pyramiding Al tolerance QTLs.

Aluminum↗

QTL analysis in plants; where are we now?

We have briefly reviewed the methods currently available for QTL analysis in segregating populations and summarized some of the conclusions arising from such analyses in plant populations. We show that the analytical methods locate QTL with poor precision (10-30 cM), unless the heritability of an individual QTL is high. Also the estimates of the QTL effects, particularly the dominance effects tend to be inflated because only large estimates are significant. Estimates of numbers of QTL per trait are generally low (< 8) for individual trials. This may suggest that there are few QTL but probably reflects the power of the methods. There is no large correlation between the numbers of QTL found and the amount of the variation explained. Of those cases where dominance is measurable, dominance ratios are often > 1, but seldom significantly greater. These latter cases need further analysis. Many QTL map close to candidate genes, and there is growing evidence from synteny studies of corresponding chromosome regions carrying similar QTL in different species. However, unreliability of QTL location may suggest false candidates.

Chromosome Mapping↗

Mapping mendelian factors underlying quantitative traits using RFLP linkage maps.

The advent of complete genetic linkage maps consisting of codominant DNA markers [typically restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs)] has stimulated interest in the systematic genetic dissection of discrete Mendelian factors underlying quantitative traits in experimental organisms. We describe here a set of analytical methods that modify and extend the classical theory for mapping such quantitative trait loci (QTLs). These include: (i) a method of identifying promising crosses for QTL mapping by exploiting a classical formula of SEWALL WRIGHT; (ii) a method (interval mapping) for exploiting the full power of RFLP linkage maps by adapting the approach of LOD score analysis used in human genetics, to obtain accurate estimates of the genetic location and phenotypic effect of QTLs; and (iii) a method (selective genotyping) that allows a substantial reduction in the number of progeny that need to be scored with the DNA markers. In addition to the exposition of the methods, explicit graphs are provided that allow experimental geneticists to estimate, in any particular case, the number of progeny required to map QTLs underlying a quantitative trait.

Chromosome Mapping↗