scholarly journals Diversity Outbred Mice at 21: Maintaining Allelic Variation in the Face of Selection

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 3893-3902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elissa J Chesler ◽  
Daniel M Gatti ◽  
Andrew P Morgan ◽  
Marge Strobel ◽  
Laura Trepanier ◽  
...  

Abstract Multi-parent populations (MPPs) capture and maintain the genetic diversity from multiple inbred founder strains to provide a resource for high-resolution genetic mapping through the accumulation of recombination events over many generations. Breeding designs that maintain a large effective population size with randomized assignment of breeders at each generation can minimize the impact of selection, inbreeding, and genetic drift on allele frequencies. Small deviations from expected allele frequencies will have little effect on the power and precision of genetic analysis, but a major distortion could result in reduced power and loss of important functional alleles. We detected strong transmission ratio distortion in the Diversity Outbred (DO) mouse population on chromosome 2, caused by meiotic drive favoring transmission of the WSB/EiJ allele at the R2d2 locus. The distorted region harbors thousands of polymorphisms derived from the seven non-WSB founder strains and many of these would be lost if the sweep was allowed to continue. To ensure the utility of the DO population to study genetic variation on chromosome 2, we performed an artificial selection against WSB/EiJ alleles at the R2d2 locus. Here, we report that we have purged the WSB/EiJ allele from the drive locus while preserving WSB/EiJ alleles in the flanking regions. We observed minimal disruption to allele frequencies across the rest of the autosomal genome. However, there was a shift in haplotype frequencies of the mitochondrial genome and an increase in the rate of an unusual sex chromosome aneuploidy. The DO population has been restored to genome-wide utility for genetic analysis, but our experience underscores that vigilant monitoring of similar genetic resource populations is needed to ensure their long-term utility.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Luigi-Sierra ◽  
Joaquim Casellas ◽  
Amparo Martinez ◽  
Juan Vicente Delgado ◽  
Javier Fernandez Alvarez ◽  
...  

Transmission ratio distortion (TRD) is the preferential transmission of one specific allele to offspring at the expense of the other one. The existence of TRD is mostly explained by the segregation of genetic variants with deleterious effects on the developmental processes that go from the formation of gametes to fecundation and birth. A few years ago, a statistical methodology was implemented in order to detect TRD signals on a genome-wide scale as a first step to uncover the biological basis of TRD and reproductive success in domestic species. In the current work, we have analyzed the impact of SNP calling quality on the detection of TRD signals in a population of Murciano-Granadina goats. Seventeen bucks and their offspring (N=288) were typed with the Goat SNP50 BeadChip, while the genotypes of the dams were lacking. Performance of a genome-wide scan revealed the existence of 36 SNPs showing significant evidence of TRD. When we calculated GenTrain scores for each one of the SNPs, we observed that 25 SNPs showed scores below 0.8. The allele frequencies of these SNPs in the offspring were not correlated with the allele frequencies estimated in the dams with statistical methods, thus evidencing that flawed SNP calling quality might lead to the detection of spurious TRD signals. We conclude that, when performing TRD scans, the GenTrain scores of markers should be taken into account to discriminate SNPs that are truly under TRD from those yielding spurious signals due to technical problems.


HortScience ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 534e-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Staub ◽  
Felix Sequen ◽  
Tom Horejsi ◽  
Jin Feng Chen

Genetic variation in cucumber accessions from China was assessed by examining variation at 21 polymorphic isozyme loci. Principal component analysis of allelic variation allowed for the depiction of two distinct groupings of Chinese accessions collected in 1994 and 1996 (67 accessions). Six isozyme loci (Gpi, Gr, Mdh-2, Mpi-2, Pep-gl, and Pep-la) were important in elucidating these major groups. These groupings were different from a single grouping of Chinese 146 accessions acquired before 1994. Allelic variation in Chinese accessions allowed for comparisons with other accessions in the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System (U.S. NPGS) collection grouped by continent and sub-continent. When Chinese accessions taken collectively were compared with an array of 853 C. sativus U.S. NPGS accessions examined previously, relationships differed between accessions grouped by country or subcontinent. Data indicate that acquisition of additional Chinese and Indian cucumber accessions would be strategically important for increasing genetic diversity in the U.S. NPGS cucumber collection.


2021 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel A. Lozada-Soto ◽  
Christian Maltecca ◽  
Duc Lu ◽  
Stephen Miller ◽  
John B. Cole ◽  
...  

Abstract Background While the adoption of genomic evaluations in livestock has increased genetic gain rates, its effects on genetic diversity and accumulation of inbreeding have raised concerns in cattle populations. Increased inbreeding may affect fitness and decrease the mean performance for economically important traits, such as fertility and growth in beef cattle, with the age of inbreeding having a possible effect on the magnitude of inbreeding depression. The purpose of this study was to determine changes in genetic diversity as a result of the implementation of genomic selection in Angus cattle and quantify potential inbreeding depression effects of total pedigree and genomic inbreeding, and also to investigate the impact of recent and ancient inbreeding. Results We found that the yearly rate of inbreeding accumulation remained similar in sires and decreased significantly in dams since the implementation of genomic selection. Other measures such as effective population size and the effective number of chromosome segments show little evidence of a detrimental effect of using genomic selection strategies on the genetic diversity of beef cattle. We also quantified pedigree and genomic inbreeding depression for fertility and growth. While inbreeding did not affect fertility, an increase in pedigree or genomic inbreeding was associated with decreased birth weight, weaning weight, and post-weaning gain in both sexes. We also measured the impact of the age of inbreeding and found that recent inbreeding had a larger depressive effect on growth than ancient inbreeding. Conclusions In this study, we sought to quantify and understand the possible consequences of genomic selection on the genetic diversity of American Angus cattle. In both sires and dams, we found that, generally, genomic selection resulted in decreased rates of pedigree and genomic inbreeding accumulation and increased or sustained effective population sizes and number of independently segregating chromosome segments. We also found significant depressive effects of inbreeding accumulation on economically important growth traits, particularly with genomic and recent inbreeding.


Genetics ◽  
1973 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-86
Author(s):  
Arthur P Mange ◽  
L Sandler

ABSTRACT Two deficiencies for, and a dominant enhancer of, the second chromosome maternal effect mutant, "daughterless" (da), were induced with X-irradiation. Their properties were studied with respect to both da and the linked maternal effect mutant, "abnormal oocyte" (abo), with the following conclusions. (1) The most probable map positions of da and abo are: J–½–da–2½–abo, where J is a dominant marker located at 41 on the standard map. (2) The da locus is in bands 31CD-F on the polytene chromosome map; abo is to the right of 32A. (3) Because homozygous da individuals survive while individuals carrying da and a deficiency for da are lethal, it is concluded that da is hypomorphic. (4) From a weak da-like maternal effect in heterozygous da females induced by an "Enhancer of da," we have confirmed a previous report that (a) the amount of sex chromosome heterochromatin contributed by the father can influence the severity of the da maternal effect, and (b) the sex chromosome heterochromatin which influences the da effect is different from that which influences the abo effect. (5) The possibility that da and abo are in a special region of chromosome 2 concerned with the regulation of sex chromosome heterochromatin is strengthened by the observation that the Enhancer of da appears to rescue abnormal eggs produced by homozygous abo mothers. (6) The Enhancer of da is a translocation between chromosomes 2 and 3 with the second chromosome breakpoint in the basal heterochromatin; because the enhancing effect maps in this region of chromosome 2, it is possible that autosomal, as well as sex chromosomal, heterochromatin interacts with da and abo.


2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia F. Del Gobbo ◽  
Yue Yin ◽  
Sanaa Choufani ◽  
Emma A. Butcher ◽  
John Wei ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Fetal growth restriction (FGR) is associated with increased risks for complications before, during, and after birth, in addition to risk of disease through to adulthood. Although placental insufficiency, failure to supply the fetus with adequate nutrients, underlies most cases of FGR, its causes are diverse and not fully understood. One of the few diagnosable causes of placental insufficiency in ongoing pregnancies is the presence of large chromosomal imbalances such as trisomy confined to the placenta; however, the impact of smaller copy number variants (CNVs) has not yet been adequately addressed. In this study, we confirm the importance of placental aneuploidy, and assess the potential contribution of CNVs to fetal growth. Methods We used molecular-cytogenetic approaches to identify aneuploidy in placentas from 101 infants born small-for-gestational age (SGA), typically used as a surrogate for FGR, and from 173 non-SGA controls from uncomplicated pregnancies. We confirmed aneuploidies and assessed mosaicism by microsatellite genotyping. We then profiled CNVs using high-resolution microarrays in a subset of 53 SGA and 61 control euploid placentas, and compared the load, impact, gene enrichment and clinical relevance of CNVs between groups. Candidate CNVs were confirmed using quantitative PCR. Results Aneuploidy was over tenfold more frequent in SGA-associated placentas compared to controls (11.9% vs. 1.1%; p = 0.0002, OR = 11.4, 95% CI 2.5–107.4), was confined to the placenta, and typically involved autosomes, whereas only sex chromosome abnormalities were observed in controls. We found no significant difference in CNV load or number of placental-expressed or imprinted genes in CNVs between SGA and controls, however, a rare and likely clinically-relevant germline CNV was identified in 5.7% of SGA cases. These CNVs involved candidate genes INHBB, HSD11B2, CTCF, and CSMD3. Conclusions We conclude that placental genomic imbalances at the cytogenetic and submicroscopic level may underlie up to ~ 18% of SGA cases in our population. This work contributes to the understanding of the underlying causes of placental insufficiency and FGR, which is important for counselling and prediction of long term outcomes for affected cases.


Genetics ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 147 (3) ◽  
pp. 1169-1180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daven C Presgraves ◽  
Emily Severance ◽  
Gerald S Willrinson

Meiotically driven sex chromosomes can quickly spread to fixation and cause population extinction unless balanced by selection or suppressed by genetic modifiers. We report results of genetic analyses that demonstrate that extreme female-biased sex ratios in two sister species of stalk-eyed flies, Cyrtodiopsis dalmanni and C. whitei, are due to a meiotic drive element on the X chromosome (Xd). Relatively high frequencies of Xd in C. dalmanni and C. whitei (13–17% and 29%, respectively) cause female-biased sex ratios in natural populations of both species. Sex ratio distortion is associated with spermatid degeneration in male carriers of Xd. Variation in sex ratios is caused by Y-linked and autosomal factors that decrease the intensity of meiotic drive. Y-linked polymorphism for resistance to drive exists in C. dalmanni in which a resistant Y chromosome reduces the intensity and reverses the direction of meiotic drive. When paired with Xd, modifying Y chromosomes (Ym) cause the transmission of predominantly Y-bearing sperm, and on average, production of 63% male progeny. The absence of sex ratio distortion in closely related monomorphic outgroup species suggests that this meiotic drive system may predate the origin of C. whitei and C. dalmanni. We discuss factors likely to be involved in the persistence of these sex-linked polymorphisms and consider the impact of Xd on the operational sex ratio and the intensity of sexual selection in these extremely sexually dimorphic flies.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Christian Riis Hansen ◽  
Kristen M. Westfall ◽  
Snaebjörn Pálsson

Abstract BackgroundWhole genomes are commonly assembled into a collection of scaffolds and often lack annotations of autosomes, sex chromosomes, and organelle genomes (i.e., mitochondrial and chloroplast). As these chromosome types differ in effective population size and can have highly disparate evolutionary histories, it is imperative to take this information into account when analysing genomic variation. Here we assessed the accuracy of four methods for identifying the homogametic sex chromosome in a small population using two whole genome sequences (WGS) and 133 RAD sequences of white-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla): i) difference in read depth per scaffold in a male and a female, ii) heterozygosity per scaffold in a male and a female, iii) mapping to a reference genome of a related species (chicken) with identified sex chromosomes, and iv) analysis of SNP-loadings from a principal components analysis (PCA), based on the low-depth RADseq data. ResultsThe best performing approach was the reference mapping (method iii), which identified 98.12% of the expected homogametic sex chromosome (Z). The read depth per scaffold (method i) identified 86.41% of the homogametic sex chromosome with few false positives. The SNP-loading scores (method iv) found 78.6% of the Z-chromosome and had a false positive discovery rate of more than 10%. The heterozygosity per scaffold (method ii) did not provide clear results due to a lack of diversity in both the Z and autosomal chromosomes, and potential interference from the heterogametic sex chromosome (W). The evaluation of these methods also revealed 10 Mb of likely PAR and gametologous regions.ConclusionIdentification of the homogametic sex chromosome in a small population is best accomplished by reference mapping or examining read depth differences between sexes.


Genetics ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 183 (3) ◽  
pp. 853-860 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leila Feiz ◽  
Brian S. Beecher ◽  
John M. Martin ◽  
Michael J. Giroux

In planta analysis of protein function in a crop plant could lead to improvements in understanding protein structure/function relationships as well as selective agronomic or end product quality improvements. The requirements for successful in planta analysis are a high mutation rate, an efficient screening method, and a trait with high heritability. Two ideal targets for functional analysis are the Puroindoline a and Puroindoline b (Pina and Pinb, respectively) genes, which together compose the wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Ha locus that controls grain texture and many wheat end-use properties. Puroindolines (PINs) together impart soft texture, and mutations in either PIN result in hard seed texture. Studies of the PINs' mode of action are limited by low allelic variation. To create new Pin alleles and identify critical function-determining regions, Pin point mutations were created in planta via EMS treatment of a soft wheat. Grain hardness of 46 unique PIN missense alleles was then measured using segregating F2:F3 populations. The impact of individual missense alleles upon PIN function, as measured by grain hardness, ranged from neutral (74%) to intermediate to function abolishing. The percentage of function-abolishing mutations among mutations occurring in both PINA and PINB was higher for PINB, indicating that PINB is more critical to overall Ha function. This is contrary to expectations in that PINB is not as well conserved as PINA. All function-abolishing mutations resulted from structure-disrupting mutations or from missense mutations occurring near the Tryptophan-rich region. This study demonstrates the feasibility of in planta functional analysis of wheat proteins and that the Tryptophan-rich region is the most important region of both PINA and PINB.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. e0218790 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Afua Damanka ◽  
Chantal Ama Agbemabiese ◽  
Francis Ekow Dennis ◽  
Belinda Larteley Lartey ◽  
Theophilus Korku Adiku ◽  
...  

2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 565 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. Arthur ◽  
R. P. Pech ◽  
A. Drew ◽  
E. Gifford ◽  
S. Henry ◽  
...  

We investigated experimentally the influence of habitat structure on the population dynamics of house mice. Three habitat types were used. In one, dense stands of regenerating cypress pine were felled and left in situ to cover at least 40% of experimental plots, providing high complexity at ground level; in another, dense stands of regenerating pine were left intact, providing low complexity at ground level; in the third, open grassland adjacent to dense stands of regenerating pine also provided low complexity at ground level. Mouse populations occurred at higher densities in felled pine plots compared with both the standing pine and grassland plots, consistent with the hypothesis that the presence of increased habitat complexity at ground level reduced the impact of predation. Even though populations responded to the felled pine, they dropped to very low densities over winter, suggesting that the habitat was still marginal for the persistence of mice, probably due to a lack of food. The results are discussed with reference to their implications for the influence that habitat structure may have on the impact of introduced predators on native species.


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