Mapping the regulatory genetic landscape of complex traits using a chicken advanced intercross line
Abstract Complex traits exhibit a highly polygenic architecture that complicates gene mapping and molecular characterization. As a model organism for birds, chickens possess high-quality reference panels, functional annotations, and molecular quantitative trait locus maps. However, the genetic mecha...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60834-x |
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| Summary: | Abstract Complex traits exhibit a highly polygenic architecture that complicates gene mapping and molecular characterization. As a model organism for birds, chickens possess high-quality reference panels, functional annotations, and molecular quantitative trait locus maps. However, the genetic mechanisms underlying growth traits have not been systematically analyzed. Here, we develop a 16-generation advanced intercross line of chickens to enhance informative recombination and identify 154 single-gene quantitative trait loci. We use multiple co-localization methods to establish a network landscape of tissue-specific regulatory mutations and functional gene relationships. We leverage gene-clustering and restoration quantitative trait loci within the omnigenic model framework to elucidate the genetic regulation system of growth traits. Cross-species comparisons show the conserved functions of growth-related genes and divergent features of regulatory mechanisms in mammals and birds. |
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| ISSN: | 2041-1723 |