Genetic correlates of gene expression in recombinant inbred strains: a relational model system to explore neurobehavioral phenotypes.
Full genome sequencing, high-density genotyping, expanding sets of microarray assays, and systematic phenotyping of neuroanatomical and behavioral traits are producing a wealth of data on the mouse central nervous system (CNS). These disparate resources are still poorly integrated. One solution is to acquire these data using a common reference population of isogenic lines of mice, providing a point of integration between the data types. Recombinant inbred (RI) mice, derived through inbreeding of progeny from an inbred cross, are a powerful tool for complex trait mapping and analysis of the challenging phenotypes of neuroscientific interest. These isogenic RI lines are a retrievable genetic resource that can be repeatedly studied using a wide variety of assays. Diverse data sets can be related through fixed and known genomes, using tools such as the interactive web-based system for complex trait analysis, www.WebQTL.org. In this report, we demonstrate the use of WebQTL to explore complex interactions among a wide variety of traits--from mRNA transcripts to the impressive behavioral and pharmacological variation among RI strains. The relational approach exploiting a common set of strains facilitates study of multiple effects of single genes (pleiotropy) without a priori hypotheses required. Here we demonstrate the power of this technique through genetic correlation of gene expression with a database of neurobehavioral phenotypes collected in these strains of mice through more than 20 years of experimentation. By repeatedly studying the same panel of mice, early data can be re-examined in light of technological advances unforeseen at the time of their initial collection.
Chesler
Elissa J
EJ
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA. echesler@utmem.edu
Wang
Jintao
J
Lu
Lu
L
Qu
Yanhua
Y
Manly
Kenneth F
KF
Williams
Robert W
RW
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D002874:Chromosome Mapping / Q000379:methods; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D016678:Genome; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains / Q000235:genetics*; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009488:Neurosciences; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000379:methods; D010641:Phenotype; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D012196:Review Literature as Topic; D013223:Statistics as Topic / Q000379:methods
D012333:RNA, Messenger