More than the sum of its parts: a complex epistatic network underlies natural variation in thermal preference behavior in Caenorhabditis elegans.

ABSTRACT: Behavior is a complex trait that results from interactions among multiple genes and the environment. Both additive and nonadditive effects are expected to contribute to broad-sense heritability of complex phenotypes, although the relative contribution of each of these mechanisms is unknown. Here, we mapped genetic variation in the correlated phenotypes of thermal preference and isothermal dispersion in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetic variation underlying these traits is characterized by a set of linked quantitative trait loci (QTL) that interact in a complex epistatic network. In particular, two loci located on the X chromosome interact with one another to generate extreme thermophilic behavior and are responsible for ∼50% of the total variation observed in a cross between two

SUBMITTER: Gaertner BE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3512158 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature