title: A note on the effect of within-strain sample sizes on QTL mapping in recombinant inbred strain studies.
abstract: This note explores the effect of within-strain sample sizes on the correlations between a phenotype and a molecular-genetic marker in a battery of inbred strains. It is shown that the maximum correlation possible between a molecular marker and a behavioral or neuronal phenotype equals the additive-genetic correlation. How close the strain correlation will approach the additive-genetic correlation depends only on heritability and within-strain sample sizes. The equations derived can be used to optimize designs of studies attempting to localize Quantitative Trait Loci utilizing Recombinant Inbred Strains, provided information about the heritability of the character under study is available.
authors.affiliation: Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Worcester, MA 01604, USA. wim.crusio@umassmed.edu
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Crusio
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017849:Animals, Inbred Strains / Q000235:genetics*; D002874:Chromosome Mapping / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005819:Genetic Markers; D008957:Models, Genetic; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci / Q000235:genetics*; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D018401:Sample Size
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers