Letter abstract
Nature Genetics 40, 609 - 615 (2008)
Published online: 6 April 2008 | doi:10.1038/ng.122
Many sequence variants affecting diversity of adult human height
Daniel F Gudbjartsson1, G Bragi Walters1, Gudmar Thorleifsson1, Hreinn Stefansson1, Bjarni V Halldorsson1,2, Pasha Zusmanovich1, Patrick Sulem1, Steinunn Thorlacius1, Arnaldur Gylfason1, Stacy Steinberg1, Anna Helgadottir1, Andres Ingason1, Valgerdur Steinthorsdottir1, Elinborg J Olafsdottir3, Gudridur H Olafsdottir3, Thorvaldur Jonsson4, Knut Borch-Johnsen5,6, Torben Hansen5, Gitte Andersen5, Torben Jorgensen7, Oluf Pedersen5,6, Katja K Aben8, J Alfred Witjes9, Dorine W Swinkels10, Martin den Heijer11, Barbara Franke12, Andre L M Verbeek13, Diane M Becker14, Lisa R Yanek14, Lewis C Becker14, Laufey Tryggvadottir3, Thorunn Rafnar1, Jeffrey Gulcher1, Lambertus A Kiemeney8,9,13, Augustine Kong1, Unnur Thorsteinsdottir1 & Kari Stefansson1
Adult human height is one of the classical complex human traits1. We searched for sequence variants that affect height by scanning the genomes of 25,174 Icelanders, 2,876 Dutch, 1,770 European Americans and 1,148 African Americans. We then combined these results with previously published results from the Diabetes Genetics Initiative on 3,024 Scandinavians2 and tested a selected subset of SNPs in 5,517 Danes. We identified 27 regions of the genome with one or more sequence variants showing significant association with height. The estimated effects per allele of these variants ranged between 0.3 and 0.6 cm and, taken together, they explain around 3.7% of the population variation in height. The genes neighboring the identified loci cluster in biological processes related to skeletal development and mitosis. Association to three previously reported loci are replicated in our analyses3, 4, 5, and the strongest association was with SNPs in the ZBTB38 gene.
- deCODE Genetics, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland.
- Reykjavik University, 103 Reykjavik, Iceland.
- Icelandic Cancer Registry, 105 Reykjavik, Iceland.
- Department of Surgery, University Hospital, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland.
- Steno Diabetes Center, DK-2820 Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Faculty of Health Science, University of Aarhus, DK-8000 Aarhus, Denmark.
- Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Glostrup University Hospital, DK-2600 Glostrup, Denmark.
- Comprehensive Cancer Centre East, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
- Radboud University Nijmegen Department of Urology, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
- Radboud University Nijmegen Department of Clinical Chemistry, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
- Radboud University Nijmegen Department of Endocrinology, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
- Radboud University Nijmegen Department of Genetics, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
- Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
- The Johns Hopkins Sibling and Family Heart Study, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA.
Correspondence to: Daniel F Gudbjartsson1 e-mail: daniel.gudbjartsson@decode.is
Correspondence to: Kari Stefansson1 e-mail: kstefans@decode.is
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