Deletions in the genomes of fifteen inbred mouse lines and their possible implications for fat accumulation.

Copy number variants (CNVs) are pieces of genomic DNA of 1000 base pairs or longer which occur in a given genome at a different frequency than in a reference genome. Their importance as a source for phenotypic variability has been recognized only in the last couple of years. Chromosomal deletions can be seen as a special case of CNVs where stretches of DNA are missing in certain lines when compared to the reference genome of the mouse line C57BL/6, for example. Based upon more than 8 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the fifteen inbred mouse lines which were determined in a whole genome chip based resequencing project by Perlegen Sciences, we detected 20,166 such long chromosomal deletions. They cover altogether between 4.4 million and 8.8 million base pairs, depending on the mouse line. Thus, their extent is comparable to that of SNPs. The chromosomal deletions were found by searching for clusters of missing values in the genotyping data by applying bioinformatics and biostatistical methods. In contrast to isolated missing values, clusters are likely the consequence of missing DNA probe rather than of a failed hybridization or deficient oligos. We analyzed these deletion sites in various ways. Twenty-two percent of these deletion sites overlap with exons; they could therefore affect a gene's functioning. The corresponding genes seem to exist in alternative forms, a phenomenon that reminds of the alternative forms of mRNA generated during gene splicing. We furthermore detected statistically significant association between hundreds of deletion sites and fat weight at the age of eight weeks.