title: Comprehensive genomic analyses associate UGT8 variants with musical ability in a Mongolian population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Musical abilities such as recognising music and singing performance serve as means for communication and are instruments in sexual selection. Specific regions of the brain have been found to be activated by musical stimuli, but these have rarely been extended to the discovery of genes and molecules associated with musical ability.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1008 individuals from 73 families were enrolled and a pitch-production accuracy test was applied to determine musical ability. To identify genetic loci and variants that contribute to musical ability, we conducted family-based linkage and association analyses, and incorporated the results with data from exome sequencing and array comparative genomic hybridisation analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found significant evidence of linkage at 4q23 with the nearest marker D4S2986 (LOD=3.1), whose supporting interval overlaps a previous study in Finnish families, and identified an intergenic single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (rs1251078, p = 8.4 × 10(-17)) near UGT8, a gene highly expressed in the central nervous system and known to act in brain organisation. In addition, a non-synonymous SNP in UGT8 was revealed to be highly associated with musical ability (rs4148254, p = 8.0 × 10(-17)), and a 6.2 kb copy number loss near UGT8 showed a plausible association with musical ability (p = 2.9 × 10(-6)).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides new insight into the genetics of musical ability, exemplifying a methodology to assign functional significance to synonymous and non-coding alleles by integrating multiple experimental methods.
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Center, Genomic Medicine Institute (GMI), Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hansoo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Seungbok
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hyun-Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Young Seok
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Ju
authors.forename: Jong-Yeon
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Dongwan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Marcin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: von Grotthuss
authors.forename: Dong-Sung
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Changho
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jennifer Hayeon
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Boram
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yun Joo
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: Sung-Il
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Joohon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jong-Il
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jeong-Sun
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Seo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics*; D055028:Comparative Genomic Hybridization; D059472:Exome; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D051147:Ganglioside Galactosyltransferase / Q000235:genetics*; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008986:Mongolia; D009146:Music; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: C511211:UGT8 protein, human; D051147:Ganglioside Galactosyltransferase