Linkage Disequilibrium in Wild and Cultured Populations of Pacific Oyster(Crassostrea gigas)

Linkage disequilibrium(LD) can be applied for mapping the actual genes responsible for variation of economically important traits through association mapping.The feasibility and efficacy of association studies are strongly dependent on the extent of LD which determines the number and density of markers in the studied population,as well as the experimental design for an association analysis.In this study,we first characterized the extent of LD in a wild population and a cultured mass-selected line of Pacific oyster(Crassostrea gigas).A total of 88 wild and 96 cultured individuals were selected to assess the level of genome-wide LD with 53 microsatellites,respectively.For syntenic marker pairs,no significant association was observed in the wild population;however,three significant associations occurred in the cultured population,and the significant LD extended up to 12.7 c M,indicating that strong artificial selection is a key force for substantial increase of genome-wide LD in cultured population.The difference of LD between wild and cultured populations showed that association studies in Pacific oyster can be achieved with reasonable marker densities at a relatively low cost by choosing an association mapping population.Furthermore,the frequent occurrence of LD between non-syntenic loci and rare alleles encourages the joint application of linkage analysis and LD mapping when mapping genes in oyster.The information on the linkage disequilibrium in the cultured population is useful for future association mapping in oyster.

SHEsis,a powerful software platform for analyses of linkage disequilibrium,haplotype construction,and genetic association at polymorphism loci

In multiloci-based genetic association studies of complex diseases, a powerful and high efficient tool for analyses oflinkage disequilibrium (LD) between markers, haplotype distributions and many chi-square/p values with a large numberof samples has been sought for long. In order to achieve the goal of obtaining meaningful results directly from raw data,we developed a robust and user-friendly software platform with a series of tools for analysis in association study withhigh efficiency. The platform has been well evaluated by several sets of real data.

Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) Discovery and Linkage Disequilib-rium (LD) in Forest Trees

With completion of the Populus genome sequencing project and the availability of many expressed sequence tags （ESTs） databases in forest trees, attention is now rapidly shifting towards the study of individual genetic variation in natural populations. The most abundant form of genetic variation in many eukaryotic species is represented by single nucleotide polymorphisms （SNPs）, which can account for heritable inter-individual differences in complex phenotypes. Unlike humans, the linkage disequilibrium （LD） rapidly decays within candidate genes in forest trees. Thus, SNPs-based candidate gene association studies are considered to be a most effective approach to dissect the complex quantitative traits in forest trees. The present study demonstrates that LD mapping can be used to identify alleles associated with quantitative traits and suggests that this new approach could be particularly useful for performing breeding programs in forest trees. In this review, we will describe the fundamentals, patterns of SNPs distribution and frequency, summarize recent advances in SNPs discovery and LD and comment on the application of LD in the dissection of complex quantitative traits in forest tress. We also put forward the outlook for future SNPs-based association analysis of quantitative traits in forest trees.

Identification of powdery mildew resistance loci in wheat by integrating genome-wide association study(GWAS) and linkage mapping

Wheat powdery mildew(Blumeria graminis f.sp.tritici, Bgt) is a disease of increasing importance globally due to the adoption of high yielding varieties and modern sustainable farming technologies.Growing resistant cultivars is a preferred approach to managing this disease, and novel powdery mildew resistance genes are urgently needed for new cultivar development.A genome-wide association study was performed on a panel of 1292 wheat landraces and historical cultivars using 5011 single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP)markers.The association panel was evaluated for reactions to three Bgt inoculants, OKS(14)-B-3-1, OKS(14)-C-2-1, and Bgt15.Linkage disequilibrum(LD) analysis indicated that genome-wide LD decayed to 0.1 at 23 Mb, and population structure analysis revealed seven subgroups in the panel.Association analysis using a mixed linear model(MLM) identified three loci for powdery mildew resistance on chromosome 2 B, designated QPm.stars-2BL1,QPm.stars-2BL2, and QPm.stars-2BL3.To evaluate the efficacy of GWAS in gene discovery,QPm.stars-2BL2 was validated using F2 and F2:3 populations derived from PI420646 × OK1059060-126135-3.Linkage analysis delimited the powdery mildew resistance gene in PI 420646 to an interval where QPm.stars-2BL2 was located, lending credence to the GWAS results.QPm.stars-2BL1 and QPm.stars-2BL3, which were associated with four SNPs located at 457.7–461.7 Mb and two SNPs located at 696.6–715.9 Mb in the Chinese Spring reference IWGSC RefSeq v1.0, respectively, are likely novel loci for powdery mildew resistance and can be used in wheat breeding to improve powdery mildew resistance.

An approach to incorporate linkage disequilibrium structure into genomic association analysis

In this study, we propose to use the principal component analysis （PCA） and regression model to incorporate linkage disequilibrium （LD） in genomic association data analysis. To accommodate LD in genomic data and reduce multiple testing, we suggest performing PCA and extracting the PCA score to capture the variation of genomic data, after which regression analysis is used to assess the association of the disease with the principal component score. An empirical analysis result shows that both genotype-based correlation matrix and haplotype-based LD matrix can produce similar results for PCA. Principal component score seems to be more powerful in detecting genetic association because the principal component score is quantitatively measured and may be able to capture the effect of multiple loci.

Distribution Characteristics and Linkage Disequilibrium of TIM4 Promoter Polymorphisms in Asthma Patients of Chinese Han Population

To investigate the distribution characteristics and linkage disequilibrium of T cell immunoglobulin domain and mucin domain protein 4 （TIM4） promoter polymorphisms in asthma patients of Chinese Han population, the promoter region of TIM4 was re-sequenced by PCR-sequencing, and linkage disequilibrium was analyzed by SHEsis software. Four single nucleotide polymor- phisms （SNPs） in the promoter region of TIM4 were detected, including two new SNPs （at positions -1609, -153） and two reported SNPs （rs6874202, rs6882076）. The frequency distribution of rs6882076 was different among different races （P〈0.05）. In addition, linkage disequilibrium among the SNPs of the promoter region of TIM4 was found and GGTG was the predominant haplotype. There were four SNPs in the promoter region of TIM4 in asthma patients of Chinese Han population, which were in linkage disequilibrium.

Detection of QTL(quantitative trait loci) associated with wood density by evaluating genetic structure and linkage disequilibrium of teak

To find the quantitative trait loci associated with wood density in teak(Tectona grandis L.f.), 21 co-dominant markers including 13 site specific recombinase and 8 EST-based co-dominant markers designed from lignin biosynthesis genes were applied to 174 teak plus tree clones at the National Germplasm Bank, Chandrapur,India. The germplasm bank exhibited 10.6% coefficient of variation for wood densities with 84.5 ± 31.3 genetic polymorphism(%). The highly panmictic set of genotypes(FST= 0.035 ± 0.004) harbored 96.47 ± 0.40 genetic variability(%). The average allelic frequency of the 21 codominant markers was 0.65 ± 0.11 with 12.9% pairs of loci in significant LD(p\0.05, R^2 values [ 0.1), confirming their suitability for a strong marker-trait association study. The marker CCoAMT-1 was significantly(p\0.01) associated with wood density showing stability by both GLM and MLM models and explained 4.3% of the phenotypic effect. The marker from the EST representing CCoAMT can be further developed for gene-assisted selection of elite genotypes of teak with greater wood density. Therefore, we believe that the report will help accelerate the genetic improvement and advance the breeding program of the species.

Haplotype phasing after joint estimation of recombination and linkage disequilibrium in breeding populations

A novel method for haplotype phasing in families after joint estimation of recombination fraction and linkage disequilibrium is developed. Results from Monte Carlo computer simulations show that the newly developed E.M. algorithm is accurate if true recombination fraction is 0 even for single families of relatively small sizes. Estimates of recombination fraction and linkage disequilibrium were 0.00 （SD 0.00） and 0.19 （SD 0.03） for simulated recombination fraction and linkage disequilibrium of 0.00 and 0.20, respectively. A genome fragmentation phasing strategy was developed and used for phasing haplotypes in a sire and 36 progeny using the 50 k Illumina BeadChip by： a） estimation of the recombination fraction and LD in consecutive SNPs using family information, b） linkage analyses between fragments, c） phasing of haplotypes in parents and progeny and in following generations. Homozygous SNPs in progeny allowed determination of paternal fragment inheritance, and deduction of SNP sequence information of haplotypes from dams. The strategy also allowed detection of genotyping errors. A total of 613 recombination events were detected after linkage analysis was carried out between fragments. Hot and cold spots were identified at the individual （sire level）. SNPs for which the sire and calf were heterozygotes became informative （over 90%） after the phasing of haplotypes. Average of regions of identity between half-sibs when comparing its maternal inherited haplotypes （with at least 20 SNP） in common was 0.11 with a maximum of 0.29 and a minimum of 0.05. A Monte-Carlo simulation of BTA1 with the same linkage disequilibrium structure and genetic linkage as the cattle family yielded a 99.98 and 99.94% of correct phases for informative SNPs in sire and calves, respectively.

Testing for Homogeneity of Linkage Disequilibrium Across Strata

In this article, using the likelihood score theory extended to nuisance parameters we derive a new homogeneity score test for comparing linkage disequilibrium across several strata. Power and sample size formulae are also obtained.

Use of Observed Genomic Information to Infer Linkage Disequilibrium between Markers and QTLs

Conducting genomic selection in admixed populations is challenging and its accuracy in this case largely depends on the persistence of linkage disequilibrium between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) and quantitative trait loci (QTL). Inferring linkage disequilibrium (LD) between SNP markers and QTLs could be important in understanding the change of SNP marker effects across different breeds. Predicting the change in linkage disequilibrium between markers and QTLs across two divergent breeds was explored using information from the genotype data. Two different models (M1, M2) that differ in the definition of the explanatory variables were used to infer the level of LD between SNP markers and QTLs using all markers in the panel or windows of fixed number of markers. Three simulation scenarios were conducted using different number of SNPs and QTLs. In the first scenario, the resulting coefficient of determination (R2) was 0.65 and 0.52 using M1 and M2, respectively. In the second scenario, average R2 equaled 0.12 using all markers in the panel and 0.25 using 100 marker windows. Across the three simulation scenarios, it was clear that a significant portion of the variation in the change in LD between SNP markers and QTLs could be explained by information already available in the observed SNP marker data.

Fine mapping of multiple interacting quantitative trait loci using combined linkage disequilibrium and linkage information

Quantitative trait loci (QTL) and their additive, dominance and epistatic effects play a critical role in complex trait variation. It is often infeasible to detect multiple interacting QTL due to main effects often being confounded by interaction effects. Positioning interacting QTL within a small region is even more difficult. We present a variance component approach nested in an empirical Bayesian method, which simultaneously takes into account additive, dominance and epistatic effects due to multiple interacting QTL. The covariance structure used in the variance component approach is based on combined linkage disequilibrium and linkage (LDL) information. In a simulation study where there are complex epistatic interactions between QTL, it is possible to simultaneously fine map interacting QTL using the proposed approach. The present method combined with LDL information can efficiently detect QTL and their dominance and epistatic effects, making it possible to simultaneously fine map main and epistatic QTL.

Identification of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms and Analysis of Linkage Disequilibrium in Different Bamboo Species Using the Candidate Gene Approach

Bamboos are one of the most beautiful and useful plants on Earth.The genetic background and population structure of bamboos are well known,which helps accelerate the process of artificial domestication of bamboo.Partial sequences of six genes involved in nitrogen use efficiency in 32 different bamboo species were analyzed for occurrence of single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs).The nucleotide diversityθw and total nucleotide polymorphismsπT of the sequenced DNA regions was 0.05137 and 0.03332,respectively.Bothπnonsyn/πsyn and Ka/Ks values were<1.The nucleotide sequences of these six genes were inferred to be relatively conserved,and the haplotype diversity was relatively high.The results of evolutionary neutrality tests showed that the six genes were in line with neutral evolution,and that the NRT2.1 and AMT2.1 gene sequences may have experienced negative selection.An inter-SNP recombination event at the NRT2.1 gene in the all pooled sample,of all 32 bamboo species was the lowest at 0.0645,whereas the AMT gene recombination events were all>0.1.Estimation and analysis of linkage disequilibrium of five genes revealed that with the increase in nucleotide sequence length,the degree of SNP linkage disequilibrium decreased rapidly.We inferred the population genetic structure of 32 bamboo species based on the SNP loci of six genes with frequencies>18%.32 bamboo species were divided into five categories,which indicated that the combined population of all bamboo species had obvious multivariate characteristics and was heterogeneous;red(Group 1)and green(Group 2)were the main groups.

Whole-population Mapping of Sugarcane Germplasm Using Linkage Disequilibrium

Commercially grown sugarcane cultivars are advanced generation hybrids between two polyploid ancestor species, S. off icinarum L. (x=10, 2n=8x=80) and S. spontaneum (x= 8, 2n=5-16x=40-128). Modern cultivars

杉木ClOFP1基因的克隆、表达及单核苷酸多态性分析

OFP基因家族在植物的生长发育中发挥重要调控作用。为探究ClOFP1在木质部形成过程中的作用,本研究通过克隆杉木ClOFP1基因,分析其表达模式,并开展该基因在杉木群体的单核苷酸多态性(SNP)及连锁不平衡(LD)分析。结果表明,ClOFP1基因的cDNA序列长1 648 bp,开放阅读框(ORF)长1 320 bp,在氨基酸序列的376~428位有卵形蛋白家族特有的OVATE结构域。系统进化树分析结果显示,ClOFP1蛋白与水稻、拟南芥中调控细胞伸长和次生壁形成的OsOFP19、AtOFP1、AtOFP4聚为一类。ClOFP1在幼嫩叶片和茎段中优势表达,随着叶片成熟和茎段木质化程度加深其表达量递减,幼叶中的表达量是老叶中的14倍。同时,在杉木木材中,ClOFP1主要在靠近树皮的边材区域表达,而在心边过渡区表达较弱。推测ClOFP1基因作为负调控因子,参与次生木质部的形成。共检测到ClOFP1基因内存在16个常见SNP位点,平均发生频率为1/103 bp。其中编码区域有11个SNP位点,分为7个同义突变和4个错义突变。7个地理种源的SNP多样性指数差异不显著,非同义突变多样性π_(ns)小于同义突变π_(s)。连锁不平衡分析结果发现,ClOFP1基因间的LD在875 bp左右长度内迅速消失,且SNPs具有3个较强的连锁不平衡区块。综上,ClOFP1的表达与杉木茎段木质化程度负相关,ClOFP1在不同无性系中SNP变异较为丰富,位点间的LD在较短序列长度内迅速消失,表明基于该基因的LD作图是可行的。本研究结果为深入解析ClOFP1功能和开展LD作图提供了重要依据。

LD-PCR检测FⅧ基因XbaⅠ位点多态性及其在血友病A携带者诊断中的应用

目的建立高特异性的针对凝血因子Ⅷ(FⅧ)基因内含子22中XbaⅠ多态性位点的连锁分析法,以用于血友病A家系携带者的诊断。方法采用长距离PCR(LD-PCR)方法,特异性地扩增FⅧ基因内含子22中的XbaⅠ位点所在区域,用限制性内切酶XbaⅠ酶切,对5个血友病A家系作家系连锁分析,并对其中可提供多态性信息的家系作携带者诊断。结果家系1中确诊女性携带者1名及1名正常女性成员;家系2中确诊1名女性携带者;而家系3、家系4和家系5该位点无法提供多态性信息。结论基于LD-PCR的FⅧ基因XbaⅠ位点连锁分析方法具有较高的准确性和可靠性,这对临床上诊断血友病A携带者具有积极的意义。

TRPM1基因分型及其与乌骨鸡皮肤乌色度关联分析

为了对TRPM1基因SNPs位点进行基因分型,分析多态位点与皮肤乌色度的关联性,找出对皮肤乌色度相关的SNP标记,采用基于飞行时间质谱分析技术的MassARRAY平台对TRPM1基因的SNPs位点进行基因分型,分析单个SNP标记与皮肤亮度L^(*)值性状的相关性,并分析不同基因型与皮肤亮度L^(*)值性状的相关性。TRPM1基因6个SNP位点质谱检出率为100%,只有SNP1位点(第8外显子,rs737038441)具有多态性,有3种基因型。卡方检验表明,该SNP位点处于Hardy-Weinberg平衡状态(P>0.05),PIC=0.27,为中度多态(0.25<PIC<0.5)。单标记关联分析表明,SNP1位点GG基因型的背部皮肤亮度L^(*)值显著低于AA和AG基因型(P<0.05),但该SNP位点不同基因型间大腿部皮肤和胸部皮肤亮度L^(*)值均差异不显著。筛选到TRPM1基因的1个多态性SNP1位点(rs737038441 A>G突变),该位点处于H-W平衡状态,SNP1位点与丝羽乌骨鸡背部皮肤亮度L^(*)值显著相关,GG基因型背部皮肤亮度L^(*)值显著低于AA和AG基因型(P<0.05),GG基因型可能是丝羽乌骨鸡背部皮肤乌色度的优势基因型,为利用分子标记辅助育种加快培育乌色度高乌骨鸡新品种提供理论参考。

鸡FGF6基因生物学特性及其多态性与经济性状的关联分析

旨在探究鸡成纤维细胞生长因子6(fibroblast growth factor 6,FGF6)基因的生物学特性,挖掘FGF6基因单核苷酸多态性(SNP)位点并分析其与经济性状的相关性,为后续研究鸡FGF6基因对生长性状的影响提供参考。本研究对FGF6蛋白序列进行生物信息学分析;基于768只固始鸡-安卡鸡F_2资源群的GBS数据及相关经济性状表型数据对FGF6基因包含启动子2 kb区域SNP位点进行筛选,并进行连锁不平衡和关联分析,探究FGF6基因SNP和单倍型与鸡经济性状的相关性。生物信息学分析结果显示,鸡FGF6氨基酸序列与火鸡同源性为91.26%;系统进化分析表明,鸡FGF6与火鸡亲缘关系最近,其次是绿海龟,与斑马鱼遗传距离最远;保守性分析显示不同物种间FGF6保守性较高。鸡FGF6蛋白为亲水性蛋白、存在1个跨膜区,主要定位于细胞质;其二级、三级结构相符。鸡FGF6蛋白被22个磷酸化位点和1个N-糖基化位点修饰;与其受体家族FGFR1~4和EGF存在互作关系。鸡FGF6基因启动子区域筛选到6个SNPs位点,均位于1号内含子上;多态性分析显示6个SNPs位点存在高多态性,其中5个处于哈代-温伯格平衡,呈强连锁状态(D′=1,r^(2)=1)。关联分析结果显示,rs73399071位点与F_2资源群不同阶段体重(BW)、胫长(SL)、胫围(SG)、体斜长(BSL)等17个生长性状指标显著相关(P<0.05),与全净膛重(EW)、半净膛重(SEW)、屠体重(CW)、胸肌重(BMW)等10个屠体性状指标显著相关(P<0.05),与肉质性状的关联未达到显著水平(P>0.05),与高密度脂蛋白(HDL)和胆碱酯酶(ChE)显著相关(P<0.05),CC基因型个体的大部分性状表型均值高于GG基因型个体;单倍型组合分析显示不同阶段CCTTCCTTCC组合个体的体重均高于其他单倍型组合个体。本研究结果为进一步探究鸡FGF6基因的功能提供理论参考,筛选到FGF6基因存在5个与固始鸡-安卡鸡F_2资源群体重、体尺、屠体性状和血液生化指标显著关联的SNPs位点,为鸡育种提供候选的分子标记,为地方鸡标记辅助选择提供新的思路。

白细胞介素1B基因连锁不平衡与原发性冻结肩的易感性

背景:国内外大量文献证实白细胞介素1β的升高与原发性冻结肩相关,白细胞介素1B(IL-1B)基因多态性能够影响白细胞介素1β相关基因的转录及蛋白表达,使得体内细胞因子水平发生改变,从而改变原发性冻结肩的发生率。拟通过对白细胞介素1B基因多态性与原发性冻结肩易感性的研究,从分子生物学角度为原发性冻结肩的发病机制探索新的突破口,寻找原发性冻结肩的易感基因。目的:探索白细胞介素1B基因中3个基因位点连锁不平衡与原发性冻结肩易感性的关联性。方法:采用病例对照研究,将研究对象分为2组,一组为184例原发性冻结肩患者,另一组为260名健康对照人群。通过聚合酶链反应和限制性片段长度多态性方法检测两组白细胞介素1B基因位点-511C/T(rs16944)、+3954C/T(rs1143634)和-31C/T(rs1143627)的基因型,并比较分析这3个位点连锁不平衡概率以及形成单倍体与原发性冻结肩患病风险率之间的相关性。结果与结论:经非条件Logistic回归分析发现,在原发性冻结肩中rs1143634位点和rs1143627位点CT基因型比例明显增加且差异有显著性意义;连锁不平衡分析显示对照组中rs16944、rs1143634、rs1143627位点趋于平衡(D’值<0.1),而原发性冻结肩组中rs1143627与rs1143634位点之间存在一定程度上的连锁不平衡(D’值=0.595);单倍体型TTT相较于CCT型可使得原发性冻结肩风险增加6.66倍(TTT,OR=6.66,95%CI=1.59-27.88,P=0.0097)。结果表明,在原发性冻结肩患者中白细胞介素1B基因rs1143627与rs1143634位点之间存在一定程度上的连锁不平衡;由3个基因位点形成的单倍体型TTT可能会增加罹患原发性冻结肩的风险。

Inferring Genome Ancestry and Estimating Molecular Relatedness Among 187 Chinese Maize Inbred Lines

The inference of genome ancestry and the estimation of molecular relatedness are of great importance for breeding efficiency and association studies. Seventy SSR loci, evenly distributed in 10 chromosomes, were assayed for polymorphism among 187 commonly used maize （Zea mays L.） inbreds which represent the genetic diversity in China. The identified 290 alleles served as raw data for estimating population structure using the coalescent linked loci, based on the ADMIXTURE model. Population number, K, has been inferred to be between five and seven. Specifying five subpopulations （K = 5） led to a distinct decrease and specifying K to be greater than six resulted in only minimal increases in the likelihood value. Therefore, population number, K, has been inferred into six subpopulations, which are PA, BSSS （includes Reid）, PB, Lan （Lancaster Sure Crop）, LRC （Luda Reb Cob, a Chinese landrace, and its derivatives）, and SPT （Si-ping-tou, a Chinese landrace and its derivatives）. The Kullback-Leibler distance of pairwise subpopulation was also inferred as n × p （187 ×6） Q matrices, which gave a detailed percentage of genetic composition of six subpopulations and molecular relatedness of each line. The genome-wide linkage disequilibrium （LD） indicated that the asso- ciation studies in QTLs and/or candidate genes might avoid nonfunctional and spurious associations, as most of the LD blocks were broken among diverse germplasm. The defined population structure has given us a clear genetic structure of these lines for breeding practice and established a good basis for association analysis.

植物数量性状关联分析研究进展

关联分析是新近开始在植物数量性状研究和植物育种中应用的一种分析方法。它以连锁不平衡为基础鉴定某一群体内性状与遗传标记或候选基因间的关系。本文在介绍连锁不平衡的定义和度量方法的基础上,综述了连锁不平衡和关联分析在植物方面的研究进展,并讨论了交配体系、重组、遗传漂变等对连锁不平衡程度的影响,以及连锁不平衡程度和群体结构对关联分析的影响,最后讨论了关联分析在植物数量性状和分子育种研究中可能的应用。