| Literature DB >> 28824697 |
Phillip Gienapp1, Veronika N Laine1, A C Mateman1, Kees van Oers1, Marcel E Visser1.
Abstract
Understanding how genes shape phenotypes is essential to assess the evolutionary potential of a trait. Identifying the genes underlying quantitative behavioral or life-history traits has, however, proven to be a major challenge. The majority of these traits are phenotypically plastic and different parts of the genome can be involved in shaping the trait under different environmental conditions. These variable genotype-phenotype associations could be one explanation for the limited success of genome-wide association studies in such traits. We here use avian seasonal timing of breeding, a trait that is highly plastic in response to spring temperature, to explore effects of such genotype-by-environment interactions in genome-wide association studies. We genotyped 2045 great tit females for 384081 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and recorded their egg-laying dates in the wild. When testing for associations between SNPs and egg-laying dates, no SNP reached genome-wide significance. We then explored whether SNP effects were modified by annual spring temperature by formally testing for an interaction between SNP effect and temperature. The models including the SNP∗temperature interaction performed consistently better although no SNP reached genome-wide significance. Our results suggest that the effects of genes shaping seasonal timing depended on annual spring temperature. Such environment-dependent effects are expected for any phenotypically plastic trait. Taking these effects into account will thus improve the success of detecting genes involved in phenotypically plastic traits, thereby leading to a better understanding of their evolutionary potential.Entities:
Keywords: GWAS; Parus major; avian breeding time; genotype-by-environment interaction; phenotypic plasticity; wild population
Year: 2017 PMID: 28824697 PMCID: PMC5543038 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2017.00102
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Front Genet ISSN: 1664-8021 Impact factor: 4.599
Variance components (and SE) from quantitative genetic analysis of egg-laying date, separately by temperature class.
| Cold | Medium | Warm | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.75 ± 1.37 | 10.8 ± 1.82 | 9.69 ± 1.41 | |
| 0.14 ± 0.05 | 0.38 ± 0.06 | 0.41 ± 0.06 | |
| 8.24 ± 1.63 | 3.00 ± 1.80 | 2.27 ± 1.43 | |
| 15.4 ± 0.90 | 14.5 ± 0.77 | 11.9 ± 0.69 | |
| No. observations | 4624 | 3737 | 4147 |
| No. individuals | 4032 | 3019 | 3532 |
The 10 most significant SNPs for genome-wide association analyses testing for an interaction between SNP effects and temperature, ordered by significance.
| SNP | Chr | Genome pos. | MAF | Ref. allele | Gene symbol | Gene name | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AX-100216683 | 3 | 68133962 | 7.29 | 0.457 | G | ||
| AX-100724221 | 2 | 143054586 | 2.69 | 0.383 | G | TG | Thyroglobulin |
| AX-100140360 | 7 | 22714628 | 2.78 | 0.328 | G | ||
| AX-100642627 | 2 | 44169247 | 2.86 | 0.377 | C | ||
| AX-100451185 | 3 | 66153471 | 4.29 | 0.179 | T | HS3STS | Heparan sulfate-glucosamine 3-sulfotransferase 5 |
| AX-100648937 | 11 | 19517225 | 5.19 | 0.200 | T | ||
| AX-100709598 | 1 | 83156541 | 7.15 | 0.337 | G | TENM4 | Teneurin transmembrane protein 4 |
| AX-100983019 | 2 | 61825937 | 8.91 | 0.270 | A | ||
| AX-100667139 | 2 | 44170225 | 1.00 | 0.350 | G | ||
| AX-100513411 | 4 | 39192295 | 1.44 | 0.256 | C | ||