Scoring the collective effects of SNPs： association of minor alleles with complex traits in model organisms

• Published in: Science China. Life sciences Vol. 57; no. 9; pp. 876 - 888
• Main Authors: Yuan, DeJian, Zhu, ZuoBin, Tan, XiaoHua, Liang, Jie, Zeng, Chen, Zhang, JieGen, Chen, Jun, Ma, Long, Dogan, Ayca, Brockmann, Gudrun, Goldmann, Oliver, Medina, Eva, Rice, Amanda D., Moyer, Richard W., Man, Xian, Yi, Ke, Li, YanKe, Lu, Qing, Huang, YiMin, Huang, Shi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing Science China Press 01.09.2014; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Alleles; Animals; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Life Sciences; MAC地址; Nematoda - genetics; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Research Paper; SNP; 单核苷酸多态性; 多性状; 未成年人; 模式生物; 等位基因; 集体效应; minor alleles; SNPs; complex traits; collective effects; recombinant inbred lines; minor allele content (MAC)
• ISSN: 1674-7305; 1869-1889
• DOI: 10.1007/s11427-014-4704-4

It has long been assumed that most parts of a genome and most genetic variations or SNPs are non-functional with regard to reproductive fitness. However, the collective effects of SNPs have yet to be examined by experimental science. We here de- veloped a novel approach to examine the relationship between traits and the total amount of SNPs in panels of genetic refer- ence populations. We identified the minor alleles （MAs） in each panel and the MA content （MAC） that each inbred strain car- ried for a set of SNPs with genotypes determined in these panels. MAC was nearly linearly linked to quantitative variations in numerous traits in model organisms, including life span, tumor susceptibility, learning and memory, sensitivity to alcohol and anti-psychotic drugs, and two correlated traits poor reproductive fitness and strong immunity. These results suggest that the collective effects of SNPs are functional and do affect reproductive fitness.