title: Scoring the collective effects of SNPs: association of minor alleles with complex traits in model organisms.
abstract: It has long been assumed that most parts of a genome and most genetic variations or SNPs are non-functional with regard to reproductive fitness. However, the collective effects of SNPs have yet to be examined by experimental science. We here developed a novel approach to examine the relationship between traits and the total amount of SNPs in panels of genetic reference populations. We identified the minor alleles (MAs) in each panel and the MA content (MAC) that each inbred strain carried for a set of SNPs with genotypes determined in these panels. MAC was nearly linearly linked to quantitative variations in numerous traits in model organisms, including life span, tumor susceptibility, learning and memory, sensitivity to alcohol and anti-psychotic drugs, and two correlated traits poor reproductive fitness and strong immunity. These results suggest that the collective effects of SNPs are functional and do affect reproductive fitness.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, Central South University, Changsha, 410078, China.
authors.forename: DeJian
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: ZuoBin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: XiaoHua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: JieGen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Long
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Ayca
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dogan
authors.forename: Gudrun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brockmann
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Goldmann
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Medina
authors.forename: Amanda D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Rice
authors.forename: Richard W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Moyer
authors.forename: Xian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Man
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: YanKe
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: YiMin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Shi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D009348:Nematoda / Q000235:genetics; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide