Letter abstract
Nature Genetics 41, 371 - 375 (2009)
Published online: 22 February 2009 | doi:10.1038/ng.330
Co-regulated transcriptional networks contribute to natural genetic variation in Drosophila sleep
Susan T Harbison1,2, Mary Anna Carbone1,2, Julien F Ayroles1,2, Eric A Stone2,3, Richard F Lyman1,2 & Trudy F C Mackay1,2
Sleep disorders are common in humans, and sleep loss increases the risk of obesity and diabetes1. Studies in Drosophila2, 3 have revealed molecular pathways4, 5, 6, 7 and neural tissues8, 9, 10 regulating sleep; however, genes that maintain genetic variation for sleep in natural populations are unknown. Here, we characterized sleep in 40 wild-derived Drosophila lines and observed abundant genetic variation in sleep architecture. We associated sleep with genome-wide variation in gene expression11 to identify candidate genes. We independently confirmed that molecular polymorphisms in Catsup (Catecholamines up) are associated with variation in sleep and that P-element mutations in four candidate genes affect sleep and gene expression. Transcripts associated with sleep grouped into biologically plausible genetically correlated transcriptional modules. We confirmed co-regulated gene expression using P-element mutants. Quantitative genetic analysis of natural phenotypic variation is an efficient method for revealing candidate genes and pathways.
- Department of Genetics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA.
- W.M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA.
- Department of Statistics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA.
Correspondence to: Trudy F C Mackay1,2 e-mail: trudy_mackay@ncsu.edu
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