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Inheritance patterns of transcript levels in F1 hybrid mice
Xiangqin Cui1, Jason Affourtit, Keith R Shockley
1Department of Biostatistics, Section on Statistical Genetics, Department of Medicine, Genetic and Translational Medicine Division, University of Alabama, Alabama 35294, USA. xcui@uab.edu
Genetics
|August 5, 2006
Summary
Genetic analysis reveals significant heritability in mouse liver gene expression, with variations across transcripts. Most gene expression patterns are inherited additively, but some show dominance or maternal effects.
Area of Science:
- Genetics
- Molecular Biology
- Systems Biology
Background:
- Transcriptional regulation is key to gene expression.
- Heritability of gene expression traits requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the heritability of transcript levels in mouse liver.
- To estimate genetic and technical variance components for gene expression traits.
Main Methods:
- Reciprocal crosses between A/J and C57BL/6J inbred mouse strains.
- Analysis of transcript levels in the first filial (F1) generation.
- Estimation of heritability using shrinkage estimators.
Main Results:
- Heritability estimates varied widely, with 1/3 showing no heritability and 1/4 showing high heritability.
- Approximately 50% of transcripts were differentially expressed between parental strains.
- Additive inheritance was most common, but 20% showed dominance and some showed overdominance.
- 314 transcripts differed between reciprocal F1 animals, suggesting maternal effects.
Conclusions:
- Gene expression heritability is transcript-specific and influenced by genetic factors.
- Additive effects are prevalent, but dominance and maternal effects also play roles.
- This study provides insights into the genetic architecture of gene expression.
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Overview