Comparative genomic and population genomic analyses of disease regions

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K18470
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Genome biology
• Research Institution: Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (2018); Kazusa DNA Research Institute (2017); The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (2016)
• Principal Investigator: FAWCETT JEFFREY 国立研究開発法人理化学研究所, 数理創造プログラム, 上級研究員 (50727394)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 集団ゲノム解析 / 遺伝的多様性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Understanding how the variation at the genetic level is related to the variation at the phenotypic level is one of the most fundamental goals in biology. Here, we obtained the genome-wide SNP (single-nucleotide polymorphism) data of several hundred horses and performed various population genomic analyses. We identified several regions likely to have been targeted by artificial selection during the domestication process of horses. We also found that the genome of modern Thoroughbred horses has a much higher level of homozygosity due to inbreeding due to the past selective breeding processes of horses. In addition, we proposed an evolutionary model to explain how repetitive sequences contribute to the rewiring of complex regulatory networks during evolution

Free Research Field

ゲノム進化

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

生物の遺伝的多様性がどんなプロセスで形成されているかを知ることは生物学における重要な問いである。本研究では選抜交配と近親交配が継続的に行われている中で遺伝的多様性やゲノムの組成がどう変化していくか、さらにそういった条件下の生物種においてどのようにして有用な形質と関連しているゲノム領域を同定すればいいのかについて、重要な知見を得ることができた。