The genetic architecture of gene expression levels in wild baboons

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:eLife 2015-02, Vol.4
Main Authors: Tung, Jenny, Zhou, Xiang, Alberts, Susan C, Stephens, Matthew, Gilad, Yoav
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
allele-specific expression
Animals
baboon
Cell adhesion & migration
Consortia
Evolution
expression quantitative trait locus
Female
Females
Gene Expression
Gene mapping
Gene regulation
Genomes
Genomics and Evolutionary Biology
Male
Monkeys & apes
Papio - genetics
Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
Population
Population genetics
Population studies
Quantitative Trait Loci
Ribonucleic acid
RNA
RNA-seq
Sample variance
Selection, Genetic
Sequence Analysis, RNA
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Summary: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.
ISSN:2050-084X
2050-084X
DOI:10.7554/elife.04729