Tbl and the molecular basis of quantitative variation

描述(申请人提供)：我们对数量方面的知识匮乏 在我们对大多数人仍然缺乏理解的情况下，变化是显而易见的 影响人类的多基因疾病。虽然在过去的十年里， 研究的计算方法的发展取得了巨大的进步 复杂的性状，对自然变异基础的分子理解 仍然难以捉摸。已知QTL基因的系统提供了令人兴奋的 确定导致以下情况的分子变化类型的机会 种群的变异。这项拟议的工作将描述一个已知的QTL基因， Teosinte分支-I(TBI)。TbI基因调控的差异 解释了驯化玉米和玉米在形态上的差异 它的野生祖先特奥辛特。详细的表达研究将用于 TBI转录的差异与发育结果相关，以及 序列多样性研究将用于确定TBI的选定区域 负责衍生玉米形态的基因座。最后，TBI基因区域 玉米-Teosinte形态的潜在差异将是功能上的 定位于一个10,000株的杂交品种，并具有特征性。了解TBI如何 影响数量变异的QTL基因将受到广泛的关注 研究人员研究了包括人类在内的许多生物体的复杂特征。

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.