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)
What is linkage analysis?
method used to map the location of a disease gene in the genome.
‘linkage’ refers to the assumption of two things being physically linked to each other.
What do we use genetic markers for?
- to identify genetic ‘markers’ to identify the location of a disease gene based on physical proximity.
What is the importance of genetic mapping?
like we know which way is north and south on a map we can work out what genes are proximal and distal in a chromosome by using genetic mapping to establish the locations of genes on the chromosomes.
What is the importance of genetic mapping?
like we know which way is north and south on a map we can work out what genes are proximal and distal in a chromosome by using genetic mapping to establish the locations of genes on the chromosomes.
=> uses an observed locus (genetic marker) to draw inferences about an unobserved locus (disease gene)
What are 2 types of maps?
- genetic maps = look at information in blocks like zones in a tube map
=> pre - 2001 , =>centimorgans = 1% chance of recombination.
=> because we had no genome sequence to refer to these types of maps used recombinant events to determine distance along the chromosome : further away = more likely crossing over. - physical maps = look at information on the physical distances between landmarks (e.g. stations on a tube map)
=> post 2001
=> 1 megabase = 1 million base-pairs
What are principles of genetic linkage?
- genetic linkage is the tendency for alleles at neighbouring loci to segregate together at meiosis
- cross -overs are more likely to occur between loci separated by some distance rather than between loci close together on the chromosome
- therefore to be linked, two loci must lie very closely together.
How does distance from gene marker and recombination link?
scenario 1: disease gene is a long distance away from a genetic marker => independent assortment => high likelihood of recombination
scenario 2: disease gene is close to gene marker => non-independent assortment => large proportion of non-recombinants expected (ie, greater likelihood of co-segregation of marker with the gene)
What are some methods of genetic linkage?
- genotype multiple genetic markers across the genome
- genotype multiple family members from families with the genetic trait
- identify which genetic markers co-segregate with the disease (phenotype) (ie which haplotypes are the same in all affected family members)
- these genetic markers are therefore ‘linked’ to the disease gene is likely to be located.
What micro-satellite markers?
- less common now. Highly polymorphic short tandem repeats of 2 to 6 bp
- micro-satellites may differ may differ in length between chromosome (heterozygous)
- are relatively widely spaced apart.
=> 400 (200) microsatellite markers => average spacing 9cM (20cM) =>PCR - based system => fluorescently -labelled primers =>manual assignment of genotypes =>labour intensive =>whole genome scan > 2-3 months
