Genetics, Vol 144, 1559-1564, Copyright © 1996

INVESTIGATIONS

Molecular Dissection of a Major Gene Effect on a Quantitative Trait: The Level of Alcohol Dehydrogenase Expression in Drosophila melanogaster

L. F. Stam and C. C. Laurie
Department of Zoology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708

A molecular mapping experiment shows that a major gene effect on a quantitative trait, the level of alcohol dehydrogenase expression in Drosophila melanogaster, is due to multiple polymorphisms within the Adh gene. These polymorphisms are located in an intron, the coding sequence, and the 3' untranslated region. Because of nonrandom associations among polymorphisms at different sites, the individual effects combine (in some cases epistatically) to produce ``superalleles'' with large effect. These results have implications for the interpretation of major gene effects detected by quantitative trait locus mapping methods. They show that large effects due to a single locus may be due to multiple associated polymorphisms (or sequential fixations in isolated populations) rather than individual mutations of large effect.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. D. Gruber, A. Genissel, S. J. Macdonald, and A. D. Long How Repeatable Are Associations Between Polymorphisms in achaete-scute and Bristle Number Variation in Drosophila? Genetics, April 1, 2007; 175(4): 1987 - 1997. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. J. Macdonald and A. D. Long Prospects for identifying functional variation across the genome PNAS, May 3, 2005; 102(suppl_1): 6614 - 6621. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Weber, N. Johnson, D. Champlin, and A. Patty Many P-Element Insertions Affect Wing Shape in Drosophila melanogaster Genetics, March 1, 2005; 169(3): 1461 - 1475. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Fridman, F. Carrari, Y.-S. Liu, A. R. Fernie, and D. Zamir Zooming In on a Quantitative Trait for Tomato Yield Using Interspecific Introgressions Science, September 17, 2004; 305(5691): 1786 - 1789. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Farrall Quantitative genetic variation: a post-modern view Hum. Mol. Genet., April 1, 2004; 13(90001): R1 - 7. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. S Cooper Race, genes, and health--new wine in old bottles? Int. J. Epidemiol., February 1, 2003; 32(1): 23 - 25. [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. C. Ungerer, C. R. Linder, and L. H. Rieseberg Effects of Genetic Background on Response to Selection in Experimental Populations of Arabidopsis thaliana Genetics, January 1, 2003; 163(1): 277 - 286. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. M. Glazier, J. H. Nadeau, and T. J. Aitman Finding Genes That Underlie Complex Traits Science, December 20, 2002; 298(5602): 2345 - 2349. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. L. Wayne and L. M. McIntyre Combining mapping and arraying: An approach to candidate gene identification PNAS, November 12, 2002; 99(23): 14903 - 14906. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Cox, N. Bouzekri, S. Martin, L. Southam, A. Hugill, M. Golamaully, R. Cooper, A. Adeyemo, F. Soubrier, R. Ward, et al. Angiotensin-1-converting enzyme (ACE) plasma concentration is influenced by multiple ACE-linked quantitative trait nucleotides Hum. Mol. Genet., November 1, 2002; 11(23): 2969 - 2977. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. V. Rockman and G. A. Wray Abundant Raw Material for Cis-Regulatory Evolution in Humans Mol. Biol. Evol., November 1, 2002; 19(11): 1991 - 2004. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W. A. Odgers, C. F. Aquadro, C. W. Coppin, M. J. Healy, and J. G. Oakeshott Nucleotide Polymorphism in the Est6 Promoter, Which Is Widespread in Derived Populations of Drosophila melanogaster, Changes the Level of Esterase 6 Expressed in the Male Ejaculatory Duct Genetics, October 1, 2002; 162(2): 785 - 797. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				X. Ma, J. H. Warram, V. Trischitta, and A. Doria Genetic Variants at the Resistin Locus and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in Caucasians J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., September 1, 2002; 87(9): 4407 - 4410. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. K. Osterberg, O. Shavorskaya, M. Lascoux, and U. Lagercrantz Naturally Occurring Indel Variation in the Brassica nigra COL1 Gene Is Associated With Variation in Flowering Time Genetics, May 1, 2002; 161(1): 299 - 306. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. G. Williams, Y. Zhou, and S. E. Hall A Chromosomal Region Promoting Outcrossing in a Conifer Genetics, November 1, 2001; 159(3): 1283 - 1289. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Parsch, J. A. Russell, I. Beerman, D. L. Hartl, and W. Stephan Deletion of a Conserved Regulatory Element in the Drosophila Adh Gene Leads to Increased Alcohol Dehydrogenase Activity but Also Delays Development Genetics, September 1, 2000; 156(1): 219 - 227. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				P. Andolfatto and M. Przeworski A Genome-Wide Departure From the Standard Neutral Model in Natural Populations of Drosophila Genetics, September 1, 2000; 156(1): 257 - 268. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				E. Fridman, T. Pleban, and D. Zamir A recombination hotspot delimits a wild-species quantitative trait locus for tomato sugar content to 484 bp within an invertase gene PNAS, April 25, 2000; 97(9): 4718 - 4723. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. D. Long, R. F. Lyman, A. H. Morgan, C. H. Langley, and T. F. C. Mackay Both Naturally Occurring Insertions of Transposable Elements and Intermediate Frequency Polymorphisms at the achaete-scute Complex Are Associated With Variation in Bristle Number in Drosophila melanogaster Genetics, March 1, 2000; 154(3): 1255 - 1269. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				J. Parsch, W. Stephan, and S. Tanda A Highly Conserved Sequence in the 3'-Untranslated Region of the Drosophila Adh Gene Plays a Functional Role in Adh Expression Genetics, February 1, 1999; 151(2): 667 - 674. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				T. Mitchell-Olds and D. Pedersen The Molecular Basis of Quantitative Genetic Variation in Central and Secondary Metabolism in Arabidopsis Genetics, June 1, 1998; 149(2): 739 - 747. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. D. Long, R. F. Lyman, C. H. Langley, and T. F. C. Mackay Two Sites in the Delta Gene Region Contribute to Naturally Occurring Variation in Bristle Number in Drosophila melanogaster Genetics, June 1, 1998; 149(2): 999 - 1017. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. R. Voss and H. B. Shaffer Adaptive evolution via a major gene effect: Paedomorphosis in the Mexican axolotl PNAS, December 9, 1997; 94(25): 14185 - 14189. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]