Originally published as Genetics Published Articles Ahead of Print on August 30, 2008.

Genetics, Vol. 180, 619-628, September 2008, Copyright © 2008
doi:10.1534/genetics.108.090407

A Genomewide Linkage Scan for Quantitative Trait Loci Influencing the Craniofacial Complex in Baboons (Papio hamadryas spp.)

Richard J. Sherwood^*,,1, Dana L. Duren^*,, Lorena M. Havill, Jeff Rogers^,**, Laura A. Cox^,**, Bradford Towne^*, and Michael C. Mahaney^,**

^* Lifespan Health Research Center, Department of Community Health, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio 45420, Department of Neuroscience, Cell Biology and Physiology, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio 45435, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio 45409, Department of Genetics, Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, San Antonio, Texas, 78245, ^** Southwest National Primate Research Center, San Antonio, Texas 78245 and Department of Pediatrics, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio 45404

¹ Corresponding author: Lifespan Health Research Center, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, 3171 Research Blvd., Kettering, OH 45420-4014.
E-mail: richard.sherwood{at}wright.edu

Numerous studies have detected significant contributions of genes to variation in development, size, and shape of craniofacial traits in a number of vertebrate taxa. This study examines 43 quantitative traits derived from lateral cephalographs of 830 baboons (Papio hamadryas) from the pedigreed population housed at the Southwest National Primate Research Center. Quantitative genetic analyses were conducted using the SOLAR analytic platform, a maximum-likelihood variance components method that incorporates all familial information for parameter estimation. Heritability estimates were significant and of moderate to high magnitude for all craniofacial traits. Additionally, 14 significant quantitative trait loci (QTL) were identified for 12 traits from the three developmental components (basicranium, splanchnocranium, and neurocranium) of the craniofacial complex. These QTL were found on baboon chromosomes (and human orthologs) PHA1 (HSA1), PHA 2 (HSA3), PHA4 (HSA6), PHA11 (HSA12), PHA13 (HSA2), PHA16 (HSA17), and PHA17 (HSA13) (PHA, P. hamadryas; HSA, Homo sapiens). This study of the genetic architecture of the craniofacial complex in baboons provides the groundwork needed to establish the baboon as an animal model for the study of genetic and nongenetic influences on craniofacial variation.

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