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Systems genetics

Networking complex traits

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 10, page 219 (2009)Cite this article

Ayroles et al. used microarrays to quantify genome-wide transcript abundance in a resource of 40 inbred D. melanogaster lines that were derived from the wild. They found a much greater degree of genetic variation than had been uncovered by previous studies: almost 80% of the D. melanogaster genome (∼10,000 transcripts) was expressed in adult flies, and two-thirds of the expressed transcripts were genetically variable.

There was a high degree of correlation between the variably expressed transcripts. The authors were able to group these transcripts into 241 modules, with each module consisting of a separate cluster of highly interconnected genes. The transcripts in a given module were often biologically related; for example, modules could be enriched for transcripts that function in a common pathway, or for transcripts that show a similar tissue-specific pattern of expression.

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References

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Ayroles, J. F. et al. Systems genetics of complex traits in Drosophila melanogaster. Nature Genet. 22 Feb 2009 (doi: 10.1038/ng.332)

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FURTHER READING

  1. Cookson, W. et al. Mapping complex disease traits with global gene expression. Nature Rev. Genet. 10, 184–194 (2009)

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

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Authors
  1. Meera Swami
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Swami, M. Networking complex traits. Nat Rev Genet 10, 219 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg2566

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg2566

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