Automatic landmarking identifies new loci associated with face morphology and implicates Neanderthal introgression in human nasal shape.

ABSTRACT: We report a genome-wide association study of facial features in >6000 Latin Americans based on automatic landmarking of 2D portraits and testing for association with inter-landmark distances. We detected significant associations (P-value <5 × 10^-8) at 42 genome regions, nine of which have been previously reported. In follow-up analyses, 26 of the 33 novel regions replicate in East Asians, Europeans, or Africans, and one mouse homologous region influences craniofacial morphology in mice. The novel region in 1q32.3 shows introgression from Neanderthals and we find that the introgressed tract increases nasal height (consistent with the differentiation between Neanderthals and modern humans). Novel regions include candidate genes and genome regulatory elements previously implicated

SUBMITTER: Li Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10167347 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature