Using regulatory and epistatic networks to extend the findings of a genome scan: identifying the gene drivers of pigmentation in merino sheep.

ABSTRACT: Extending genome wide association analysis by the inclusion of gene expression data may assist in the dissection of complex traits. We examined piebald, a pigmentation phenotype in both human and Merino sheep, by analysing multiple data types using a systems approach. First, a case control analysis of 49,034 ovine SNP was performed which confirmed a multigenic basis for the condition. We combined these results with gene expression data from five tissue types analysed with a skin-specific microarray. Promoter sequence analysis of differentially expressed genes allowed us to reverse-engineer a regulatory network. Likewise, by testing two-loci models derived from all pair-wise comparisons across piebald-associated SNP, we generated an epistatic network. At the intersection of both networks, w

SUBMITTER: Garcia-Gamez E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3119053 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature