Mouse genomic variation and its effect on phenotypes and gene regulation

We report genome sequences of 17 inbred strains of laboratory mice and identify almost ten times more variants than previously known. We use these genomes to explore the phylogenetic history of the laboratory mouse and to examine the functional consequences of allele-specific variation on transcript abundance, revealing that at least 12% of transcripts show a significant tissue-specific expression bias. By identifying candidate functional variants at 718 quantitative trait loci we show that the molecular nature of functional variants and their position relative to genes vary according to the effect size of the locus. These sequences provide a starting point for a new era in the functional analysis of a key…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Award: 0918000
• JD
  Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International
• WT
  Wellcome Trust

  Award: 083573/Z/07
• IT
  Immune Tolerance Network
• CR
  Cancer Research UK
• MR
  Medical Research Council

  Award: MC_EX_G0802457
• BA
  Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

  Awards: BB/F022697/1, BB/F022697/1
• NI
  National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
• NI
  National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases