Nasal bone shape is under complex epistatic genetic control in mouse interspecific recombinant congenic strains.
BACKGROUND
Genetic determinism of cranial morphology in the mouse is still largely unknown, despite the localization of putative QTLs and the identification of genes associated with Mendelian skull malformations. To approach the dissection of this multigenic control, we have used a set of interspecific recombinant congenic strains (IRCS) produced between C57BL/6 and mice of the distant species Mus spretus (SEG/Pas). Each strain has inherited 1.3% of its genome from SEG/Pas under the form of few, small-sized, chromosomal segments.


RESULTS
The shape of the nasal bone was studied using outline analysis combined with Fourier descriptors, and differential features were identified between IRCS BcG-66H and C57BL/6. An F2 cross between BcG-66H and C57BL/6 revealed that, out of the three SEG/Pas-derived chromosomal regions present in BcG-66H, two were involved. Segments on chromosomes 1 (∼32 Mb) and 18 (∼13 Mb) showed additive effect on nasal bone shape. The three chromosomal regions present in BcG-66H were isolated in congenic strains to study their individual effect. Epistatic interactions were assessed in bicongenic strains.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results show that, besides a strong individual effect, the QTL on chromosome 1 interacts with genes on chromosomes 13 and 18. This study demonstrates that nasal bone shape is under complex genetic control but can be efficiently dissected in the mouse using appropriate genetic tools and shape descriptors.
Institut Pasteur, Unité de Génétique Fonctionnelle de la Souris, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, URA 2578, Paris, France. grburgio@utas.edu.au
Gaétan
G
Burgio
Michel
M
Baylac
Evelyne
E
Heyer
Xavier
X
Montagutelli
D000818:Animals; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D004843:Epistasis, Genetic; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D020297:Mice, Congenic; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009295:Nasal Bone / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci