And the genetic basis of complex traits, like intelligence, is far from understood.
Today, molecular markers enable the dissection of the genetic basis of complex traits and the increasing knowledge about the tomato genome offers new efficient tools to breeders.
We describe studies using one such panel, the Drosophila Synthetic Population Resource (DSPR), and the implications for our understanding of the genetic basis of complex traits.
Elucidating the genetic basis of complex traits and diseases in non-European populations is particularly challenging because US minority populations have been under-represented in genetic association studies.
Association mapping based on LD (Linkage dis-equilibrium), non-random associations between causative loci and phenotype in natural population is highly useful in dissecting out genetic basis of complex traits.
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have provided valuable insights into the genetic basis of complex traits, discovering >6000 variants associated with >500 quantitative traits and common complex diseases in humans.
This review aims to illustrate the advantages of including assessments of phenotypic and metabolic diversity in investigations of the genetic basis of complex traits, and the value of this approach in studying agriculturally important crops.
Many genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in humans are concluding that, even with very large sample sizes and high marker densities, most of the genetic basis of complex traits may remain unexplained.
The recent advances in rice biotechnological tools have been very helpful in unraveling the genetic basis of complex traits within rice germplasm to identify major genes/QTLs for use in rice breeding (Thomson et al. 2010; Swamy et al. 2014; Swamy and Kumar, 2013).
These include two flagship papers: one exploiting genomic-scale data to generate a highly supported avian order phylogeny that resolves many debates on the timing and topology of their radiation; the other a comparative genomic analysis exploring avian genome evolution and the genetic basis of complex traits.
"Our findings are telling us that the genetic basis of complex traits like height may be very different in globally diverse populations".
