title: The genetic architecture of gene expression levels in wild baboons.
abstract: Primate evolution has been argued to result, in part, from changes in how genes are regulated. However, we still know little about gene regulation in natural primate populations. We conducted an RNA sequencing (RNA-seq)-based study of baboons from an intensively studied wild population. We performed complementary expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) mapping and allele-specific expression analyses, discovering substantial evidence for, and surprising power to detect, genetic effects on gene expression levels in the baboons. eQTL were most likely to be identified for lineage-specific, rapidly evolving genes; interestingly, genes with eQTL significantly overlapped between baboons and a comparable human eQTL data set. Our results suggest that genes vary in their tolerance of genetic perturbation, and that this property may be conserved across species. Further, they establish the feasibility of eQTL mapping using RNA-seq data alone, and represent an important step towards understanding the genetic architecture of gene expression in primates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, Chicago, United States.
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tung
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, Chicago, United States.
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Susan C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Alberts
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, Chicago, United States.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stephens
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, Chicago, United States.
authors.forename: Yoav
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gilad
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D008297:Male; D010215:Papio / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA
keywords: RNA-seq; allele-specific expression; baboon; evolutionary biology; expression quantitative trait locus; genomics; yellow baboon (papio cynocephalus)