Models with indirect genetic effects depending on group sizes: a simulation study assessing the precision of the estimates of the dilution parameter

Restoring connectivity is viewed as an important recovery option for fish species adversely affected by river fragmentation. This simulation study quantified the genetic and demographic effects of translocation on metapopulations of white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) inhabiting a series of long (source) and short (sink) river segments. Genetic effects were predictable; upstream translocations increased introgression and downstream translocations had no effect. Demographic results suggest that indiscriminant efforts to reconnect populations may do more harm than good. Simulated river systems with high interspersion of long and short segments and a long segment far upstream tended to benefit most from translocation, but only when narrow screening or downstream passage was also provided below the river segment receiving fish. When combined with narrow screening, upstream translocation to a long segment subsidizing several downstream short segments produced the best results. Downstream passage outperformed narrow screening only when the translocation recipient was a short segment in a river system with low interspersion and no long, upstream river segment. This model-based evaluation of reconnection options has helped to refine ideas about restoring populations in fragmented rivers by predicting which options benefit riverine metapopulations as a whole.

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Evaluating indirect genetic effects of siblings using singletons

10.31219/osf.io/j2rms ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Laurence Howe ◽

David Evans ◽

Gibran Hemani ◽

George Davey Smith ◽

Neil Martin Davies

Keyword(s):

Genetic Variation ◽

Educational Attainment ◽

Family Environment ◽

Phenotypic Variation ◽

Molecular Genetic ◽

Genetic Effects ◽

Polygenic Risk Score ◽

Indirect Genetic Effects ◽

Molecular Genetic Evidence ◽

Older Siblings

Estimating effects of parental and sibling genotypes (indirect genetic effects) can provide insight into how the family environment influences phenotypic variation. There is growing molecular genetic evidence for effects of parental phenotypes on their offspring (e.g. parental educational attainment), but the extent to which siblings affect each other is currently unclear.Here we used data from samples of unrelated individuals, without (singletons) and with biological full-siblings (non-singletons), to investigate and estimate sibling effects. Indirect genetic effects of siblings increase (or decrease) the covariance between genetic variation and a phenotype. It follows that differences in genetic association estimates between singletons and non-singletons could indicate indirect genetic effects of siblings.We used UK Biobank data to estimate polygenic risk score (PRS) associations for height, BMI and educational attainment in singletons (N = 50,143) and non-singletons (N = 328,549). The educational attainment PRS association estimate was 12% larger (95% C.I. 3%, 21%) in the non-singleton sample than in the singleton sample, but the height and BMI PRS associations were consistent. Birth order data suggested that the difference in educational attainment PRS associations was driven by individuals with older siblings rather than firstborns. The relationship between number of siblings and educational attainment PRS associations was non-linear; PRS associations were 24% smaller in individuals with 6 or more siblings compared to the rest of the sample (95% C.I. 11%, 38%). We estimate that a 1 SD increase in sibling educational attainment PRS corresponds to a 0.025 year increase in the index individual’s years in schooling (95% C.I. 0.013, 0.036).Our results suggest that older siblings influence the educational attainment of younger siblings, adding to the growing evidence that effects of the environment on phenotypic variation partially reflect social effects of germline genetic variation in relatives.

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