linkage analysis Flashcards
Define genetic variations.
- differences in the DNA sequence between individuals in a population.
- variation can be inherited or due to environmental factors.
What 4 different effects of genetic variation can have?
- alteration of the amino acid sequence.
- changes in gene regulation (gene expression)
- physical appearance of an individual (eg. eye colour, genetic disease risk)
- silent or no apparent effect.
Why is genetic variation important?
- genetic variation underlies phenotypic differences among different individuals.
- genetic variation determines our predisposition to complex diseases and responses to drugs and environmental factors.
- genetic variation reveals clues of ancesteral human migration history.
What are mechanisms of genetic variation?
- mutation/polymorphism
- > germ line mutations : passed on to descents
- > somatic mutations : not transmitted to descendants
- > de novo mutations : new mutations not inherited by either parent. - homologous recombination: shuffling of chromosomal segments between partner (homologous) chromosomes of a pair.
- gene flow: movement of genes from one population to another (eg. migration)
compare and contrast rare variant (mutation) and common variant (polymorphism).
- mutation is a rare change in DNA sequence that is different to the ref sequence (normal).
- polymorphism is a DNA sequence variant that is common in the population. In this case no single allele is regarded as ‘normal’ allele, there are 2 or more equally acceptable alternatives.
How do you determine if variant is mutation or polymorphism?
- the arbitrary cut -off point between a mutation and a polymorphism is a minor allele frequency (MAF) of 1%
- for a variant to be considered polymorphism the least common (minor) allele must be present in >/= 1% of the population.
what is meiosis and recombination?
meiosis = creation of haploid gamete from sperm and egg.
=> Genetic recombination (stage I)
- homologous (maternal and paternal) chromosomes line up at the centre of nucleus and crossing over of arms of the chromosomes occurs, exchange in genetic material = introducing variation.
=> RANDOM recombination.
what is crossing over?
- reciprocal breaking and re-joining of the homologous chromosomes during meiosis.
- results in exchange of chromosome segments and new allele combinations.
Define a genotype.
genetic make up of an individual.
Define phenotype.
physical expression of the genetic makeup.
Define alleles.
- alternative versions called alleles.
- an organism inherits 2 alleles one from each parents the alleles can be same ( homozygous) or different (heterozygous)
Define haplotype.
a group of alleles that are inherited together from a single parent (haplo = single)
what is homozygosity and heterozygosity?
homo = chromosomes with the same allele of gene on maternal and paternal chromosome at the same loci hetro= different allele of gene on maternal and paternal chromosome.
When can linkage analysis be applied?
- mendelian/monogenic : disease caused by a single gene , with little or no impact from the environment (eg. PKD)
When can linkage analysis not be applied?
- non-mendelian/polygenic disease or traits caused by the impact of many different genes, each having only a small individual impact on the final condition (e.g. psoriasis)
- multifactorial : diseases resulting from interaction between multiple genes and often multiple environmental factors (eg. heart disease)