Skip to main content
PMC home page
Genetics logoLink to Genetics
. 1999 Nov;153(3):1233–1243. doi: 10.1093/genetics/153.3.1233

Quantitative trait loci affecting survival and fertility-related traits in Caenorhabditis elegans show genotype-environment interactions, pleiotropy and epistasis.

D R Shook 1, T E Johnson 1
PMCID: PMC1460837  PMID: 10545455

Abstract

We have identified, using composite interval mapping, quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting a variety of life history traits (LHTs) in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Using recombinant inbred strains assayed on the surface of agar plates, we found QTL for survival, early fertility, age of onset of sexual maturity, and population growth rate. There was no overall correlation between survival on solid media and previous measures of survival in liquid media. Of the four survival QTL found in these two environments, two have genotype-environment interactions (GEIs). Epistatic interactions between markers were detected for four traits. A multiple regression approach was used to determine which single markers and epistatic interactions best explained the phenotypic variance for each trait. The amount of phenotypic variance accounted for by genetic effects ranged from 13% (for internal hatching) to 46% (for population growth). Epistatic effects accounted for 9-11% of the phenotypic variance for three traits. Two regions containing QTL that affected more than one fertility-related trait were found. This study serves as an example of the power of QTL mapping for dissecting the genetic architecture of a suite of LHTs and indicates the potential importance of environment and GEIs in the evolution of this architecture.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (149.1 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Belknap J. K. Empirical estimates of Bonferroni corrections for use in chromosome mapping studies with the BXD recombinant inbred strains. Behav Genet. 1992 Nov;22(6):677–684. doi: 10.1007/BF01066638. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Churchill G. A., Doerge R. W. Empirical threshold values for quantitative trait mapping. Genetics. 1994 Nov;138(3):963–971. doi: 10.1093/genetics/138.3.963. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Ebert R. H., 2nd, Cherkasova V. A., Dennis R. A., Wu J. H., Ruggles S., Perrin T. E., Shmookler Reis R. J. Longevity-determining genes in Caenorhabditis elegans: chromosomal mapping of multiple noninteractive loci. Genetics. 1993 Dec;135(4):1003–1010. doi: 10.1093/genetics/135.4.1003. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Ebert R. H., 2nd, Shammas M. A., Sohal B. H., Sohal R. S., Egilmez N. K., Ruggles S., Shmookler Reis R. J. Defining genes that govern longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans. Dev Genet. 1996;18(2):131–143. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1520-6408(1996)18:2<131::AID-DVG6>3.0.CO;2-A. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Emmons S. W., Yesner L. High-frequency excision of transposable element Tc 1 in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is limited to somatic cells. Cell. 1984 Mar;36(3):599–605. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90339-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Gillespie J. H., Turelli M. Genotype-environment interactions and the maintenance of polygenic variation. Genetics. 1989 Jan;121(1):129–138. doi: 10.1093/genetics/121.1.129. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Haley C. S., Knott S. A. A simple regression method for mapping quantitative trait loci in line crosses using flanking markers. Heredity (Edinb) 1992 Oct;69(4):315–324. doi: 10.1038/hdy.1992.131. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hodgkin J., Barnes T. M. More is not better: brood size and population growth in a self-fertilizing nematode. Proc Biol Sci. 1991 Oct 22;246(1315):19–24. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1991.0119. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Johnson T. E., Wood W. B. Genetic analysis of life-span in Caenorhabditis elegans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Nov;79(21):6603–6607. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.21.6603. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Lander E. S., Botstein D. Mapping mendelian factors underlying quantitative traits using RFLP linkage maps. Genetics. 1989 Jan;121(1):185–199. doi: 10.1093/genetics/121.1.185. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Lander E., Kruglyak L. Genetic dissection of complex traits: guidelines for interpreting and reporting linkage results. Nat Genet. 1995 Nov;11(3):241–247. doi: 10.1038/ng1195-241. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Martin G. M., Austad S. N., Johnson T. E. Genetic analysis of ageing: role of oxidative damage and environmental stresses. Nat Genet. 1996 May;13(1):25–34. doi: 10.1038/ng0596-25. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Nuzhdin S. V., Pasyukova E. G., Dilda C. L., Zeng Z. B., Mackay T. F. Sex-specific quantitative trait loci affecting longevity in Drosophila melanogaster. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1997 Sep 2;94(18):9734–9739. doi: 10.1073/pnas.94.18.9734. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Rose M. R., Charlesworth B. Genetics of life history in Drosophila melanogaster. I. Sib analysis of adult females. Genetics. 1981 Jan;97(1):173–186. doi: 10.1093/genetics/97.1.173. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Rose M. R., Charlesworth B. Genetics of life history in Drosophila melanogaster. II. Exploratory selection experiments. Genetics. 1981 Jan;97(1):187–196. doi: 10.1093/genetics/97.1.187. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Shook D. R., Brooks A., Johnson T. E. Mapping quantitative trait loci affecting life history traits in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 1996 Mar;142(3):801–817. doi: 10.1093/genetics/142.3.801. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Tanksley S. D. Mapping polygenes. Annu Rev Genet. 1993;27:205–233. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ge.27.120193.001225. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Williams B. D., Schrank B., Huynh C., Shownkeen R., Waterston R. H. A genetic mapping system in Caenorhabditis elegans based on polymorphic sequence-tagged sites. Genetics. 1992 Jul;131(3):609–624. doi: 10.1093/genetics/131.3.609. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Zeng Z. B. Theoretical basis for separation of multiple linked gene effects in mapping quantitative trait loci. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1993 Dec 1;90(23):10972–10976. doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.23.10972. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Genetics are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES