Causal Inference of Regulator-Target Pairs by Gene Mapping of Expression Phenotypes

Background: Correlations between polymorphic markers and observed phenotypes provide the basis for mapping traits in quantitative genetics. When the phenotype is gene expression, then loci involved in regulatory control can theoretically be implicated. Recent efforts to construct gene regulatory networks from genotype and gene expression data have shown that biologically relevant networks can be achieved from an integrative approach. In this paper, we consider the problem of identifying individual pairs of genes in a direct or indirect, causal, trans-acting relationship. Results: Inspired by epistatic models of multi-locus quantitative trait (QTL) mapping, we propose a unified model of expression and genotype to identify quantitative trait genes (QTG) by extending the conventional linear model to include both genotype and expression of regulator genes and their interactions. The model provides mapping of specific genes in contrast to standard linkage approaches that implicate large QT...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: RECOMB
• Authors: David Kulp, Manjunatha Jagalur
• Keywords: Computational Biology, Conventional Linear Model, Implicate Large Qtl, Likely Alternative Regulator, RECOMB 2005