Genetic variation for cardiac dysfunction in Drosophila.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Common diseases may be attributed to combinations of variant alleles, but there are few model systems where the interactions among such variants can be studied in controlled genetic crosses. While association studies are designed to detect common polymorphisms of moderate effect, new approaches are required to characterize the impact on disease of interactions among rare alleles.

Methodology/principal findings

We show that wild populations of Drosophila melanogaster harbor rare polymorphisms of major effect (RAME) that predispose flies to a specific disease phenotype, age-dependent cardiac dysfunction. A screen of fifty inbred wild-type lines revealed a continuous spectrum of pacing-induced heart failure that generally increases in frequency with age. High-speed v

SUBMITTER: Ocorr KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1913553 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature