Search results for "Genetiikka"
showing 10 items of 91 documents
A genome-wide association study of monozygotic twin-pairs suggests a locus related to variability of serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol
2012
Serum lipid levels have been associated with cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome and type II diabetes (Kannel et al., 1961; Miller & Miller, 1975; Pilia et al., 2006). Variation in lipids levels is highly influenced by heritable factors (Friedlander et al., 1997) and 95 loci have already been associated with levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, triglycerides (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) in numerous study samples and replicated in various populations using genome-wide approaches (Aulchenko et al., 2008; Kathiresan et al., 2008; Kooner et al., 2008; Teslovich et al., 2010; Willer et al., 2008). However, the genetic associa…
Genome-wide association studies identify 137 genetic loci for DNA methylation biomarkers of aging
2021
Abstract Background Biological aging estimators derived from DNA methylation data are heritable and correlate with morbidity and mortality. Consequently, identification of genetic and environmental contributors to the variation in these measures in populations has become a major goal in the field. Results Leveraging DNA methylation and SNP data from more than 40,000 individuals, we identify 137 genome-wide significant loci, of which 113 are novel, from genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analyses of four epigenetic clocks and epigenetic surrogate markers for granulocyte proportions and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 levels, respectively. We find evidence for shared genetic loci ass…
Ultra-conserved elements provide insights to the biogeographic patterns of three benthic macroinvertebrate species in the Baltic Sea
2022
The Baltic Sea, with its steep salinity gradient, high water retention time, and relatively young age, represents a marginal ecosystem between marine and freshwater extremes. Due to differing invasion history and dispersal capabilities of Baltic species, there are large differences in species distributions, species-specific genetic structure and variation, and edge populations that may represent both a subset of the original population, as well as unique genetic lineages. We used a phylogenomic approach to investigate relationships between populations of three benthic macroinvertebrate species: Pygospio elegans, Corophium volutator, and Mya arenaria, providing new insight into evolutionary …
The effect of experimental lead pollution on DNA methylation in a wild bird population
2021
Anthropogenic pollution is known to negatively influence an organism’s physiology, behaviour, and fitness. Epigenetic regulation, such as DNA methylation, has been hypothesized as a potential mechanism to mediate such effects, yet studies in wild species are lacking. We first investigated the effects of early-life exposure to the heavy metal lead (Pb) on DNA methylation levels in a wild population of great tits (Parus major), by experimentally exposing nestlings to Pb at environmentally relevant levels. Secondly, we compared nestling DNA methylation from a population exposed to long-term heavy metal pollution (close to a copper smelter), where birds suffer from pollution-related decrease in…
An ecologist’s guide for studying DNA methylation variation in wild vertebrates
2022
The field of molecular biology is advancing fast with new powerful technologies, sequencing methods and analysis software being developed constantly. Commonly used tools originally developed for research on humans and model species are now regularly used in ecological and evolutionary research. There is also a growing interest in the causes and consequences of epigenetic variation in natural populations. Studying ecological epigenetics is currently challenging, especially for vertebrate systems, because of the required technical expertise, complications with analyses and interpretation, and limitations in acquiring sufficiently high sample sizes. Importantly, neglecting the limitations of t…
Manipulating mtDNA in vivo reprograms metabolism via novel response mechanisms.
2019
Mitochondria have been increasingly recognized as a central regulatory nexus for multiple metabolic pathways, in addition to ATP production via oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). Here we show that inducing mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) stress in Drosophila using a mitochondrially-targeted Type I restriction endonuclease (mtEcoBI) results in unexpected metabolic reprogramming in adult flies, distinct from effects on OXPHOS. Carbohydrate utilization was repressed, with catabolism shifted towards lipid oxidation, accompanied by elevated serine synthesis. Cleavage and translocation, the two modes of mtEcoBI action, repressed carbohydrate rmetabolism via two different mechanisms. DNA cleavage activ…
Risk factors for Lyme disease : A scale-dependent effect of host species diversity and a consistent negative effect of host phylogenetic diversity
2021
Biodiversity can influence disease risk. One example of a diversity-disease relationship is the dilution effect, which suggests higher host species diversity (often indexed by species richness) reduces disease risk. While numerous studies support the dilution effect, its generality remains controversial. Most studies of diversity-disease relationships have overlooked the potential importance of phylogenetic diversity. Furthermore, most studies have tested diversity-disease relationships at one spatial scale, even though such relationships are likely scale dependent. Using Lyme disease as a model system, we investigated the effects of host species richness and phylogenetic relatedness on the…
Genetic and phenotypic divergence in Drosophila virilis and D. montana
2007
Tapahtuuko lajien toisistaan erillään olevien populaatioiden ilmiasuun liittyvien piirteiden eriytyminen populaatioiden geneettisen eriytymisen sivutuotteena vai nopeutuuko tällaisten piirteiden eriytyminen luonnonvalinnan tai seksuaalivalinnan vaikutuksesta? Tätä kysymystä Jarkko Routtu pohti väitöskirjassaan. Routtu tutki maapallon eri puolilta peräisin olevien mahlakärpäskantojen eriytymistä, D. virilis -lajilla koiraan kosintalaulun ja D. montana -lajilla koiraan kosintalaulun sekä siipien ja genitaalien koon ja muodon perusteella.- Erityisesti Drosophila montanalla seksuaalivalinnan vaikutus populaatioiden eriytymiseen on kiinnostavaa, koska tämän lajin naaraat ovat mieltyneet koiraan …
Sequence variation and regulatory variation in acetylcholinesterase genes contribute to insecticide resistance in different populations of Leptinotar…
2021
Abstract Although insect herbivores are known to evolve resistance to insecticides through multiple genetic mechanisms, resistance in individual species has been assumed to follow the same mechanism. While both mutations in the target site insensitivity and increased amplification are known to contribute to insecticide resistance, little is known about the degree to which geographic populations of the same species differ at the target site in a response to insecticides. We tested structural (e.g., mutation profiles) and regulatory (e.g., the gene expression of Ldace1 and Ldace2, AChE activity) differences between two populations (Vermont, USA and Belchow, Poland) of the Colorado potato beet…
Health endowment and later-life outcomes in the labour market : Evidence using genetic risk scores and reduced-form models
2019
This paper examines the relationship between health endowment and later-life outcomes in the labour market. The analysis is based on reduced-form models in which labour market outcomes are regressed on genetic variants related to the increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. We use linked Finnish data that have many strengths. Genetic risk scores constitute exogenous measures for health endowment, and accurate administrative tax records on earnings, employment and social income transfers provide a comprehensive account of an individual’s long-term performance in the labour market. The results show that although the direction of an effect is generally consistent with theoretical reasoning, …