title: Trait-trait dynamic interaction: 2D-trait eQTL mapping for genetic variation study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Many studies have shown that the abundance level of gene expression is heritable. Analogous to the traditional genetic study, most researchers treat the expression of one gene as a quantitative trait and map it to expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL). This is 1D-trait mapping. 1D-trait mapping ignores the trait-trait interaction completely, which is a major shortcoming.
  
  
  RESULTS
  To overcome this limitation, we study the expression of a pair of genes and treat the variation in their co-expression pattern as a two dimensional quantitative trait. We develop a method to find gene pairs, whose co-expression patterns, including both signs and strengths, are mediated by genetic variations and map these 2D-traits to the corresponding genetic loci. We report several applications by combining 1D-trait mapping with 2D-trait mapping, including the contribution of genetic variations to the perturbations in the regulatory mechanisms of yeast metabolic pathways.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our approach of 2D-trait mapping provides a novel and effective way to connect the genetic variation with higher order biological modules via gene expression profiles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA. sunwei@ucla.edu
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Shinsheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Ker-Chau
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000235:genetics*; D016681:Genome, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D023281:Genomics; D006639:Histidine / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007168:IMP Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D007930:Leucine / Q000096:biosynthesis; D020412:Multifactorial Inheritance / Q000235:genetics*; D011687:Purines / Q000096:biosynthesis; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci / Q000235:genetics*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D011687:Purines; D014157:Transcription Factors; D006639:Histidine; D007168:IMP Dehydrogenase; D007930:Leucine; C030985:purine