Tbl and the molecular basis of quantitative variation

描述（由申请人提供）：我们缺乏关于定量的知识 在我们对大多数人仍然缺乏了解的情况下， 影响人类的多基因疾病尽管过去十年 在发展计算方法来研究 复杂的性状，对自然变异基础的分子理解， 仍然难以捉摸QTL基因已知的系统提供了令人兴奋的 有机会确定导致癌症的分子变化类型， 人口的变化。拟议的工作将表征一个已知的QTL基因， 大刍草分枝I（tbi）. tbi基因调控的差异 解释了驯化玉米和 它的野生祖先大刍草详细的表达研究将用于 将TBI转录的差异与发育结果相关联，以及 序列多样性研究将用于鉴定TBI的选定区域 基因座负责衍生的玉米形态。最后，TBI基因区域， 玉米-大刍草形态的潜在差异将在功能上 定位于10，000株植物杂交中并表征。了解TBI如何 QTL基因对数量变异的贡献将受到广泛关注， 研究人员在包括人类在内的许多生物体中研究复杂的特征。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Our dearth of knowledge about quantitative variation is readily apparent in our still poor understanding of the majority of multigenic diseases affecting humans. While the past decade has seen dramatic progress in the development of computational approaches to study complex traits, a molecular understanding of the basis of natural variation has remained elusive. Systems in which QTL genes are known offer exciting opportunities to determine the types of molecular changes that lead to variation in populations. The proposed work will characterize a known QTL gene, teosinte branched-i (tbi). Differences in the regulation of the tbi gene account for much of the variation in morphology between domesticated maize and its wild ancestor, teosinte. Detailed expression studies will be used to correlate differences in tbi transcription with developmental outcomes, and sequence diversity studies will be used to identify selected regions of the tbi locus responsible for derived maize morphology. Finally, tbi genic regions that underlie differences in maize-teosinte morphology will be functionally localized in a 10,000 plant cross and characterized. Understanding how the tbi QTL gene contributes to quantitative variation will be of broad interest to researchers examining complex traits in many organisms including humans.