A multitrait GWAS sheds light on insulin resistance
Nature Genetics 49, 7 (2017).
doi:10.1038/ng.3758
Authors: Iris M Heid & Thomas W Winkler
A genome-wide study of fasting insulin, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides, designed to depict insulin resistance, identified 53 independent loci associated with a limited capacity to store fat in a healthy way. The increased power of this multitrait approach provides insights into an otherwise difficult-to-grasp phenotype. (Source: Nature Genetics)
Source: Nature Genetics - December 27, 2016 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Iris M Heid Thomas W Winkler Tags: News and Views Source Type: research
Copy number alterations unmasked as enhancer hijackers
Nature Genetics 49, 5 (2017).
doi:10.1038/ng.3754
Authors: Rameen Beroukhim, Xiaoyang Zhang & Matthew Meyerson
Our understanding of how DNA copy number changes contribute to disease, including cancer, has to a large degree been focused on the changes in gene dosage that they generate and has neglected the effects of the DNA rearrangements that lead to their formation. A new study reports an innovative analytical framework for copy number alterations that are oncogenic primarily owing to the genomic rearrangements that underlie them. (Source: Nature Genetics)
Source: Nature Genetics - December 27, 2016 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Rameen Beroukhim Xiaoyang Zhang Matthew Meyerson Tags: News and Views Source Type: research
Is a super-enhancer greater than the sum of its parts?
Nature Genetics 49, 2 (2017).
doi:10.1038/ng.3759
Authors: Noah Dukler, Brad Gulko, Yi-Fei Huang & Adam Siepel (Source: Nature Genetics)
Source: Nature Genetics - December 27, 2016 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Noah Dukler Brad Gulko Yi-Fei Huang Adam Siepel Tags: Correspondence Source Type: research
Finally accepting plant domestication
Nature Genetics 49, 1 (2017).
doi:10.1038/ng.3770
Agriculture has depended since its Neolithic origins upon spontaneous or induced genetic variation. Human selection on naturally occurring variation in flowering is the most frequent source of domesticated crop plants. In the current era of rapid technological advance in reading and writing genomes, we advocate universal access to some safe modular variation in flower, leaf and color traits that can be operated without labs or restrictions by ordinary farmers and gardeners. (Source: Nature Genetics)
Source: Nature Genetics - December 27, 2016 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Tags: Editorial Source Type: research
A method for identifying genetic heterogeneity within phenotypically defined disease subgroups
Nature Genetics 49, 310 (2017).
doi:10.1038/ng.3751
Authors: James Liley, John A Todd & Chris Wallace (Source: Nature Genetics)
Source: Nature Genetics - December 25, 2016 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: James Liley John A Todd Chris Wallace Tags: Technical Report Source Type: research
Robust and scalable inference of population history from hundreds of unphased whole genomes
Nature Genetics 49, 303 (2017).
doi:10.1038/ng.3748
Authors: Jonathan Terhorst, John A Kamm & Yun S Song (Source: Nature Genetics)
Source: Nature Genetics - December 25, 2016 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Jonathan Terhorst John A Kamm Yun S Song Tags: Technical Report Source Type: research
ARID1A loss impairs enhancer-mediated gene regulation and drives colon cancer in mice
Nature Genetics 49, 296 (2017).
doi:10.1038/ng.3744
Authors: Radhika Mathur, Burak H Alver, Adrianna K San Roman, Boris G Wilson, Xiaofeng Wang, Agoston T Agoston, Peter J Park, Ramesh A Shivdasani & Charles W M Roberts
Genes encoding subunits of SWI/SNF (BAF) chromatin-remodeling complexes are collectively mutated in ∼20% of all human cancers. Although ARID1A is the most frequent target of mutations, the mechanism by which its inactivation promotes tumorigenesis is unclear. Here we demonstrate that Arid1a functions as a tumor suppressor in the mouse colon, but not the small intestine, and that invasive A...
Source: Nature Genetics - December 11, 2016 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Radhika Mathur Burak H Alver Adrianna K San Roman Boris G Wilson Xiaofeng Wang Agoston T Agoston Peter J Park Ramesh A Shivdasani Charles W M Roberts Tags: Letter Source Type: research
Smarca4 ATPase mutations disrupt direct eviction of PRC1 from chromatin
Nature Genetics 49, 282 (2017).
doi:10.1038/ng.3735
Authors: Benjamin Z Stanton, Courtney Hodges, Joseph P Calarco, Simon M G Braun, Wai Lim Ku, Cigall Kadoch, Keji Zhao & Gerald R Crabtree
Trithorax-group proteins and their mammalian homologs, including those in BAF (mSWI/SNF) complexes, are known to oppose the activity of Polycomb repressive complexes (PRCs). This opposition underlies the tumor-suppressive role of BAF subunits and is expected to contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders. However, the mechanisms underlying opposition to Polycomb silencing are poorly understood. Here we report that recurrent d...
Source: Nature Genetics - December 11, 2016 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Benjamin Z Stanton Courtney Hodges Joseph P Calarco Simon M G Braun Wai Lim Ku Cigall Kadoch Keji Zhao Gerald R Crabtree Tags: Letter Source Type: research
Dynamics of BAF –Polycomb complex opposition on heterochromatin in normal and oncogenic states
Nature Genetics 49, 213 (2017).
doi:10.1038/ng.3734
Authors: Cigall Kadoch, Robert T Williams, Joseph P Calarco, Erik L Miller, Christopher M Weber, Simon M G Braun, John L Pulice, Emma J Chory & Gerald R Crabtree (Source: Nature Genetics)
Source: Nature Genetics - December 11, 2016 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Cigall Kadoch Robert T Williams Joseph P Calarco Erik L Miller Christopher M Weber Simon M G Braun John L Pulice Emma J Chory Gerald R Crabtree Tags: Article Source Type: research
Variation in the flowering gene SELF PRUNING 5G promotes day-neutrality and early yield in tomato
Nature Genetics 49, 162 (2017).
doi:10.1038/ng.3733
Authors: Sebastian Soyk, Niels A Müller, Soon Ju Park, Inga Schmalenbach, Ke Jiang, Ryosuke Hayama, Lei Zhang, Joyce Van Eck, José M Jiménez-Gómez & Zachary B Lippman
Plants evolved so that their flowering is triggered by seasonal changes in day length. However, day-length sensitivity in crops limits their geographical range of cultivation, and thus modification of the photoperiod response was critical for their domestication. Here we show that loss of day-length-sensitive flowering in tomato was driven by the florigen paralog and flowering...
Source: Nature Genetics - December 4, 2016 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Sebastian Soyk Niels A M üller Soon Ju Park Inga Schmalenbach Ke Jiang Ryosuke Hayama Lei Zhang Joyce Van Eck Jos é M Jiménez-Gómez Zachary B Lippman Tags: Letter Source Type: research
Human host range of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Nature Genetics 48, 1453 (2016).
doi:10.1038/ng.3724
Author: Ruth Hershberg
A new study demonstrates that the most widespread lineage of the causative agent of tuberculosis consists of both globally distributed and geographically restricted sublineages. The geographically restricted sublineages are likely able to infect only specific human populations, whereas the globally distributed ones likely have a broader human host range. (Source: Nature Genetics)
Source: Nature Genetics - November 28, 2016 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Ruth Hershberg Tags: News and Views Source Type: research
A DNA element that remembers winter
Nature Genetics 48, 1451 (2016).
doi:10.1038/ng.3727
Authors: Chenlong Li & Yuhai Cui
Polycomb-mediated silencing of the floral repressor gene FLC in response to long-term cold is a central event during vernalization in Arabidopsis thaliana, but how it is initiated is unclear. Two new studies identify a DNA element that mediates FLC silencing by attracting a pair of transcriptional repressors, VAL1 and VAL2, which in turn trigger epigenetic silencing by the Polycomb complex PHD–PRC2. (Source: Nature Genetics)
Source: Nature Genetics - November 28, 2016 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Chenlong Li Yuhai Cui Tags: News and Views Source Type: research
Understanding unspecific complaints through genetics
Nature Genetics 48, 1450 (2016).
doi:10.1038/ng.3730
Author: Eli Sprecher
Unspecific and unexplained medical complaints can be frustrating to both patients and clinicians. A cause for these complex symptoms and signs may now have been identified. (Source: Nature Genetics)
Source: Nature Genetics - November 28, 2016 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Eli Sprecher Tags: News and Views Source Type: research
Combined harvest of knowledge
Nature Genetics 48, 1449 (2016).
doi:10.1038/ng.3739
Investment in national infrastructure should include a scalable open informatics solution for agricultural genomics, germplasm and crop traits. This is a priority measure for economic stimulus and food security. As building this knowledge harvester should be simpler than the infrastructure required for precision medicine, it will also pave the way to that goal. (Source: Nature Genetics)
Source: Nature Genetics - November 28, 2016 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Tags: Editorial Source Type: research
ADARB1 catalyzes circadian A-to-I editing and regulates RNA rhythm
Nature Genetics 49, 146 (2017).
doi:10.1038/ng.3731
Authors: Hideki Terajima, Hikari Yoshitane, Haruka Ozaki, Yutaka Suzuki, Shigeki Shimba, Shinya Kuroda, Wataru Iwasaki & Yoshitaka Fukada
It has been proposed that the CLOCK–ARNTL (BMAL1) complex drives circadian transcription of thousands of genes, including Per and Cry family genes that encode suppressors of CLOCK–ARNTL-dependent transcription. However, recent studies demonstrated that 70–80% of circadian-oscillating mRNAs have no obvious rhythms in their de novo transcription, indicating the potential importance of post-transcriptional reg...
Source: Nature Genetics - November 27, 2016 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Hideki Terajima Hikari Yoshitane Haruka Ozaki Yutaka Suzuki Shigeki Shimba Shinya Kuroda Wataru Iwasaki Yoshitaka Fukada Tags: Letter Source Type: research
