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Genetic interactions improve models of quantitative traits

Nature Genetics volume 49, pages 486–488 (2017)Cite this article

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A study of genetic variation in yeast has identified key quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that suppress the effects of variation at multiple other loci. These loci prove essential to accurately modeling yeast growth in response to different environments.

Genetic interaction, or epistasis, occurs when multiple genetic variants interactively influence phenotypes such that their joint effects cannot be predicted by additively combining the effects of each variant in isolation. In such cases, variants appear to interfere with one another in individuals that carry both alleles. Systematic analysis of epistasis has proven especially useful in model organism studies in inferring the flow of biological information through molecular pathways1 and understanding population-level phenomena such as genetic buffering2 and synthetic lethality3. In a recent paper4, Örjan Carlborg and colleagues demonstrate the importance of including genetic interactions in models of complex traits, even when the overall trait variance appears additive. Notably, these interactions center on key 'capacitor' loci that act to suppress the effects of other loci throughout the genome.

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Figure 1: Growth of yeast colonies based on genotypes at the suppressor hub QTL (rows) and its radial target QTLs (columns).

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  1. Anna L. Tyler and Gregory W. Carter are at the Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine, USA.,

    Anna L Tyler & Gregory W Carter

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  1. Anna L Tyler
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Correspondence to Gregory W Carter.

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Tyler, A., Carter, G. Genetic interactions improve models of quantitative traits. Nat Genet 49, 486–488 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.3829

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