scholarly journals The influence of X chromosome variants on trait neuroticism

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Luciano ◽  
Gail Davies ◽  
Kim M Summers ◽  
W David Hill ◽  
Caroline Hayward ◽  
...  

Autosomal variants have successfully been associated with trait neuroticism in genome-wide analysis of adequately-powered samples. But such studies have so far excluded the X chromosome from analysis. Here, we report genetic association analyses of X chromosome and XY pseudoautosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and trait neuroticism using UK Biobank samples (N = 405,274). Significant association was found with neuroticism on the X chromosome for 204 markers found within three independent loci (a further 783 were suggestive). Most of these significant neuroticism-related X chromosome variants were located in intergenic regions (n = 713). Involvement of HS6ST2, which has been previously associated with sociability behaviour in the dog, was supported by single SNP and gene-based tests. We found that the amino acid and nucleotide sequences are highly conserved between dogs and humans. From the suggestive X chromosome variants, there were 19 nearby genes which could be linked to gene ontology information. Molecular function was primarily related to binding and catalytic activity; notable biological processes were cellular and metabolic, and nucleic acid binding and transcription factor protein classes were most commonly involved. X-variant heritability of neuroticism was estimated at 0.34% (SE = 0.07). A polygenic X-variant score created in an independent sample (maximum N ≈ 7300) did not predict significant variance in neuroticism, psychological distress, or depressive disorder. We conclude that the X chromosome harbours significant variants influencing neuroticism, and might prove important for other quantitative traits and complex disorders.


Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 686
Author(s):  
Alireza Nazarian ◽  
Alexander M. Kulminski

Almost all complex disorders have manifested epidemiological and clinical sex disparities which might partially arise from sex-specific genetic mechanisms. Addressing such differences can be important from a precision medicine perspective which aims to make medical interventions more personalized and effective. We investigated sex-specific genetic associations with colorectal (CRCa) and lung (LCa) cancers using genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) data from three independent datasets. The genome-wide association analyses revealed that 33 SNPs were associated with CRCa/LCa at P < 5.0 × 10−6 neither males or females. Of these, 26 SNPs had sex-specific effects as their effect sizes were statistically different between the two sexes at a Bonferroni-adjusted significance level of 0.0015. None had proxy SNPs within their ±1 Mb regions and the closest genes to 32 SNPs were not previously associated with the corresponding cancers. The pathway enrichment analyses demonstrated the associations of 35 pathways with CRCa or LCa which were mostly implicated in immune system responses, cell cycle, and chromosome stability. The significant pathways were mostly enriched in either males or females. Our findings provided novel insights into the potential sex-specific genetic heterogeneity of CRCa and LCa at SNP and pathway levels.



2019 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 117693431988994
Author(s):  
Shulin Zhang ◽  
Yaling Cai ◽  
Jinggong Guo ◽  
Kun Li ◽  
Renhai Peng ◽  
...  

Determining the genetic rearrangement and domestication footprints in Gossypium hirsutum cultivars and primitive race genotypes are essential for effective gene conservation efforts and the development of advanced breeding molecular markers for marker-assisted breeding. In this study, 94 accessions representing the 7 primitive races of G hirsutum, along with 9 G hirsutum and 12 Gossypium barbadense cultivated accessions were evaluated. The genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) approach was employed and 146 558 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were generated. Distinct SNP signatures were identified through the combination of selection scans and association analyses. Phylogenetic analyses were also conducted, and we concluded that the Latifolium, Richmondi, and Marie-Galante race accessions were more genetically related to the G hirsutum cultivars and tend to cluster together. Fifty-four outlier SNP loci were identified by selection-scan analysis, and 3 SNPs were located in genes related to the processes of plant responding to stress conditions and confirmed through further genome-wide signals of marker-phenotype association analysis, which indicate a clear selection signature for such trait. These results identified useful candidate gene locus for cotton breeding programs.



2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 567-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhongxue Chen ◽  
Hon Keung Tony Ng ◽  
Jing Li ◽  
Qingzhong Liu ◽  
Hanwen Huang

In the past decade, hundreds of genome-wide association studies have been conducted to detect the significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms that are associated with certain diseases. However, most of the data from the X chromosome were not analyzed and only a few significant associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms from the X chromosome have been identified from genome-wide association studies. This is mainly due to the lack of powerful statistical tests. In this paper, we propose a novel statistical approach that combines the information of single-nucleotide polymorphisms on the X chromosome from both males and females in an efficient way. The proposed approach avoids the need of making strong assumptions about the underlying genetic models. Our proposed statistical test is a robust method that only makes the assumption that the risk allele is the same for both females and males if the single-nucleotide polymorphism is associated with the disease for both genders. Through simulation study and a real data application, we show that the proposed procedure is robust and have excellent performance compared to existing methods. We expect that many more associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms on the X chromosome will be identified if the proposed approach is applied to current available genome-wide association studies data.



2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason G Wallace ◽  
Peter Bradbury ◽  
Nengyi Zhang ◽  
Yves Gibon ◽  
Mark Stitt ◽  
...  

Phenotypic variation in natural populations results from a combination of genetic effects, environmental effects, and gene-by-environment interactions. Despite the vast amount of genomic data becoming available, many pressing questions remain about the nature of genetic mutations that underlie functional variation. We present the results of combining genome-wide association analysis of 41 different phenotypes in ~5,000 inbred maize lines to analyze patterns of high-resolution genetic association among of 28.9 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and ~800,000 copy-number variants (CNVs). We show that genic and intergenic regions have opposite patterns of enrichment, minor allele frequencies, and effect sizes, implying tradeoffs among the probability that a given polymorphism will have an effect, the detectable size of that effect, and its frequency in the population. We also find that genes tagged by GWAS are enriched for regulatory functions and are ~50% more likely to have a paralog than expected by chance, indicating that gene regulation and neofunctionalization are strong drivers of phenotypic variation. These results will likely apply to many other organisms, especially ones with large and complex genomes like maize.



2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond K. Walters ◽  
Charles Laurin ◽  
Gitta H. Lubke

Epistasis is a growing area of research in genome-wide studies, but the differences between alternative definitions of epistasis remain a source of confusion for many researchers. One problem is that models for epistasis are presented in a number of formats, some of which have difficult-to-interpret parameters. In addition, the relation between the different models is rarely explained. Existing software for testing epistatic interactions between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) does not provide the flexibility to compare the available model parameterizations. For that reason we have developed an R package for investigating epistatic and penetrance models, EpiPen, to aid users who wish to easily compare, interpret, and utilize models for two-locus epistatic interactions. EpiPen facilitates research on SNP-SNP interactions by allowing the R user to easily convert between common parametric forms for two-locus interactions, generate data for simulation studies, and perform power analyses for the selected model with a continuous or dichotomous phenotype. The usefulness of the package for model interpretation and power analysis is illustrated using data on rheumatoid arthritis.



Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 363
Author(s):  
Sulochana K. Wasala ◽  
Dana K. Howe ◽  
Louise-Marie Dandurand ◽  
Inga A. Zasada ◽  
Dee R. Denver

Globodera pallida is among the most significant plant-parasitic nematodes worldwide, causing major damage to potato production. Since it was discovered in Idaho in 2006, eradication efforts have aimed to contain and eradicate G. pallida through phytosanitary action and soil fumigation. In this study, we investigated genome-wide patterns of G. pallida genetic variation across Idaho fields to evaluate whether the infestation resulted from a single or multiple introduction(s) and to investigate potential evolutionary responses since the time of infestation. A total of 53 G. pallida samples (~1,042,000 individuals) were collected and analyzed, representing five different fields in Idaho, a greenhouse population, and a field in Scotland that was used for external comparison. According to genome-wide allele frequency and fixation index (Fst) analyses, most of the genetic variation was shared among the G. pallida populations in Idaho fields pre-fumigation, indicating that the infestation likely resulted from a single introduction. Temporal patterns of genome-wide polymorphisms involving (1) pre-fumigation field samples collected in 2007 and 2014 and (2) pre- and post-fumigation samples revealed nucleotide variants (SNPs, single-nucleotide polymorphisms) with significantly differentiated allele frequencies indicating genetic differentiation. This study provides insights into the genetic origins and adaptive potential of G. pallida invading new environments.



Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 1074
Author(s):  
Joanna Grzegorczyk ◽  
Artur Gurgul ◽  
Maria Oczkowicz ◽  
Tomasz Szmatoła ◽  
Agnieszka Fornal ◽  
...  

Poland is the largest European producer of goose, while goose breeding has become an essential and still increasing branch of the poultry industry. The most frequently bred goose is the White Kołuda® breed, constituting 95% of the country’s population, whereas geese of regional varieties are bred in smaller, conservation flocks. However, a goose’s genetic diversity is inaccurately explored, mainly because the advantages of the most commonly used tools are strongly limited in non-model organisms. One of the most accurate used markers for population genetics is single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP). A highly efficient strategy for genome-wide SNP detection is genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS), which has been already widely applied in many organisms. This study attempts to use GBS in 12 conservative goose breeds and the White Kołuda® breed maintained in Poland. The GBS method allowed for the detection of 3833 common raw SNPs. Nevertheless, after filtering for read depth and alleles characters, we obtained the final markers panel used for a differentiation analysis that comprised 791 SNPs. These variants were located within 11 different genes, and one of the most diversified variants was associated with the EDAR gene, which is especially interesting as it participates in the plumage development, which plays a crucial role in goose breeding.



Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1510
Author(s):  
Salvatore Mastrangelo ◽  
Rosalia Di Gerlando ◽  
Maria Teresa Sardina ◽  
Anna Maria Sutera ◽  
Angelo Moscarelli ◽  
...  

The application of genomic technologies has facilitated the assessment of genomic inbreeding based on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). In this study, we computed several runs of homozygosity (ROH) parameters to investigate the patterns of homozygosity using Illumina Goat SNP50 in five Italian local populations: Argentata dell’Etna (N = 48), Derivata di Siria (N = 32), Girgentana (N = 59), Maltese (N = 16) and Messinese (N = 22). The ROH results showed well-defined differences among the populations. A total of 3687 ROH segments >2 Mb were detected in the whole sample. The Argentata dell’Etna and Messinese were the populations with the lowest mean number of ROH and inbreeding coefficient values, which reflect admixture and gene flow. In the Girgentana, we identified an ROH pattern related with recent inbreeding that can endanger the viability of the breed due to reduced population size. The genomes of Derivata di Siria and Maltese breeds showed the presence of long ROH (>16 Mb) that could seriously impact the overall biological fitness of these breeds. Moreover, the results confirmed that ROH parameters are in agreement with the known demography of these populations and highlighted the different selection histories and breeding schemes of these goat populations. In the analysis of ROH islands, we detected harbored genes involved with important traits, such as for milk yield, reproduction, and immune response, and are consistent with the phenotypic traits of the studied goat populations. Finally, the results of this study can be used for implementing conservation programs for these local populations in order to avoid further loss of genetic diversity and to preserve the production and fitness traits. In view of this, the availability of genomic data is a fundamental resource.



2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1835) ◽  
pp. 20160569 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Goddard ◽  
K. E. Kemper ◽  
I. M. MacLeod ◽  
A. J. Chamberlain ◽  
B. J. Hayes

Complex or quantitative traits are important in medicine, agriculture and evolution, yet, until recently, few of the polymorphisms that cause variation in these traits were known. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS), based on the ability to assay thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), have revolutionized our understanding of the genetics of complex traits. We advocate the analysis of GWAS data by a statistical method that fits all SNP effects simultaneously, assuming that these effects are drawn from a prior distribution. We illustrate how this method can be used to predict future phenotypes, to map and identify the causal mutations, and to study the genetic architecture of complex traits. The genetic architecture of complex traits is even more complex than previously thought: in almost every trait studied there are thousands of polymorphisms that explain genetic variation. Methods of predicting future phenotypes, collectively known as genomic selection or genomic prediction, have been widely adopted in livestock and crop breeding, leading to increased rates of genetic improvement.



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