Extensive QTL and association analyses of the QTLMAS2009 Data

BACKGROUND: We applied a range of genome-wide association (GWA) methods to map quantitative trait loci (QTL) in the simulated dataset provided by the QTLMAS2009 workshop to derive a comprehensive set of results. A Gompertz curve was modelled on the yield data and showed good predictive properties. QTL analyses were done on the raw measurements and on the individual parameters of the Gompertz curve and its predicted growth for each interval. Half-sib and variance component linkage analysis revealed QTL with different modes of inheritance but with low resolution. This was complemented by association studies using single markers or haplotypes, and additive, dominance, parent-of-origin and epistatic QTL effects. All association analyses were done on phenotypes pre-corrected for pedigree effects. These methods detected QTL positions with high concordance to each other and with greater refinement of the linkage signals. Two-locus interaction analysis detected no epistatic pairs of QTL. Overall, using stringent thresholds we identified QTL regions using linkage analyses, corroborated by 6 individual SNPs with significant effects as well as two putatively imprinted SNPs. CONCLUSIONS: We obtained consistent results across a combination of intra- and inter- family based methods using flexible linear models to evaluate a variety of models. The Gompertz curve fitted the data really well, and provided complementary information on the detected QTL. Retrospective comparisons of the results with actual data simulated showed that best results were obtained by including both yield and the parameters from the Gompertz curve despite the data being simulated using a logistic function.