A genome-wide gene expression signature of environmental geography in leukocytes of Moroccan Amazighs.

ABSTRACT: The different environments that humans experience are likely to impact physiology and disease susceptibility. In order to estimate the magnitude of the impact of environment on transcript abundance, we examined gene expression in peripheral blood leukocyte samples from 46 desert nomadic, mountain agrarian and coastal urban Moroccan Amazigh individuals. Despite great expression heterogeneity in humans, as much as one third of the leukocyte transcriptome was found to be associated with differences among regions. Genome-wide polymorphism analysis indicates that genetic differentiation in the total sample is limited and is unlikely to explain the expression divergence. Methylation profiling of 1,505 CpG sites suggests limited contribution of methylation to the observed differences in gene expr

SUBMITTER: Idaghdour Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2290968 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature