Research articles

Exome-wide genetic analysis on >300,000 individuals identifies associations with plasma lipid traits. Loci significantly associated with cholesterol and triglycerides are examined together to determine the effects of alleles on type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease risk.

This large-scale genome-wide association analysis of subjects with asthma, hay fever or eczema provides insights into the shared genetic basis of these allergic diseases. The findings suggest that these diseases partly co-occur because they share many genetic risk variants that dysregulate the expression of immune-related genes.

Analysis of whole-genome sequencing data from 163 vervet monkeys from Africa and the Caribbean shows high diversity among taxa and identifies signatures of selection. Selection signals affect viral processes, and genes that show response to SIV in vervets but not macaques have elevated selection scores.

A meta-analysis of exome-wide association studies for blood lipid levels in East Asian populations identifies a novel coding variant. Exome array data from the Global Lipids Genetics Consortium were integrated and led to the discovery of novel and population-specific variants associated with cholesterol and triglycerides.

CERES is a new computational method to estimate gene-dependency levels from CRISPR–Cas9 essentiality screens while accounting for copy number effects and variable sgRNA activity. Applying CERES to new genome-scale CRISPR–Cas9 essentiality screen data from 342 cancer cell lines and other published data sets shows that CERES decreases false-positive results and provides consistent estimates of sgRNA activity.

This study presents a new approach to estimate the tissues contributing to the genetic causality for complex traits and diseases. The method assesses tissue sharing of eQTLs among 44 tissues and then uses these tissue-sharing estimates to infer the tissues where trait-associated variants likely exert their function.

CaVEMaN is a new method that uses whole-genome sequencing and RNA-sequencing data to implicate likely causal variants affecting gene expression. The set of high-confidence causal variants found in multiple tissues is enriched for variants associated with complex traits.

Roger Milne and colleagues conduct a genome-wide association study for estrogen receptor (ER)-negative breast cancer combined with BRCA1 mutation carriers in a large cohort. They identify ten new risk variants and find high genetic correlation between breast cancer risk for BRCA1 mutation carriers and risk of ER-negative breast cancer in the general population.

Covariates for multiphenotype studies (CMS), a new approach for testing for associations from large-scale datasets, leverages genetic and environmental factors shared between correlated variables measured on the same samples. Applying CMS to real and simulated data demonstrates a large increase in power equivalent to that gained by doubling the sample size.

Analysis of a large bread-wheat genomic data set through a quantitative genetic framework designed to study the genetic basis of heterosis shows that hybrids outperform midparents in grain yield by 10%. Genome-wide prediction and association mapping indicate that epistasis plays a significant role in heterosis of grain yield in wheat.

This large-scale analysis of copy number alterations (CNAs) in patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) across 24 cancer types shows that new CNAs accumulate quickly and that the specific CNAs acquired during passaging differ from those acquired during tumor evolution in patients, suggesting that PDX tumors are under distinct selection pressures from tumors in human hosts.

A genome-wide association analysis using data from Chinese individuals combined with a transethnic meta-analysis of Psychiatry Genomics Consortium data identifies 30 new loci for schizophrenia. These analyses improve the fine-mapping of susceptibility loci and implicate multiple pathways in schizophrenia biology.

Exome sequencing of 2,871 probands with congenital heart disease (CHD) provides new insights into the genetic architecture of these disorders. The results implicate new genes in CHD pathogenesis and highlight striking overlap between genes with damaging de novo mutations in individuals with CHD and autism.

The assembly of the durian genome provides insights into the unique flavor profile of this tropical fruit. Transcriptome and metabolome analyses show that methionine γ-lyase is upregulated and that volatile sulfur compounds are produced during ripening.

Ali Shilatifard and colleagues generate Drosophila lines expressing catalytically deficient Trr, which normally deposits H3K4me1 at enhancers. Trr mutants undergo normal development and show minimal changes in gene expression.

Lineage-tracing experiments in the mouse show that Lgr6, but not Lgr5, functions as a cancer stem marker in skin squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs). The authors also show that Lgr6-knockout mice are predisposed to SCC development, through a mechanism that includes compensatory upregulation of Lgr5.

High-resolution contact maps of active enhancers and target genes generated by H3K27ac HiChIP in primary human cells provide rational guides to link noncoding disease-associated risk variants to candidate causal genes. Genes are validated by CRISPR activation and interference at connected enhancers and eQTL analysis, leading to a fourfold increase in the number of potential target genes for autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases.

Loss of BAF47 destabilizes the BAF complex on chromatin, and reintroduction of BAF47 leads to enhancer activation and Polycomb opposition at bivalent promoters. BAF47 loss affects BAF and PBAF complexes, which have distinct functions in regulation of enhancers and promoters.

Graphtyper is a fast and scalable method for variant genotyping that aligns short-read sequence data to a pangenome. Graphtyper was able to accurately genotype ∼90 million sequence variants in the whole genomes of ∼28,000 Icelanders, including those in six HLA genes.

Missense mutations affecting lysine 91 in the histone H4 core cause a developmental syndrome marked by growth delay, microcephaly and intellectual disability. These mutations cause genomic instability by interfering with H4K91 ubiquitination, leading to abnormal cell cycle progression and apoptosis during early development.