Mosaic patterns of selection in genomic regions associated with diverse human traits.

Natural selection shapes the genetic architecture of many human traits. However, the prevalence of different modes of selection on genomic regions associated with variation in traits remains poorly understood. To address this, we developed an efficient computational framework to calculate positive a...

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Main Authors: Abin Abraham, Abigail L LaBella, John A Capra, Antonis Rokas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2022-11-01
Series:PLoS Genetics
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1010494
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author Abin Abraham
Abigail L LaBella
John A Capra
Antonis Rokas
author_facet Abin Abraham
Abigail L LaBella
John A Capra
Antonis Rokas
author_sort Abin Abraham
collection DOAJ
description Natural selection shapes the genetic architecture of many human traits. However, the prevalence of different modes of selection on genomic regions associated with variation in traits remains poorly understood. To address this, we developed an efficient computational framework to calculate positive and negative enrichment of different evolutionary measures among regions associated with complex traits. We applied the framework to summary statistics from >900 genome-wide association studies (GWASs) and 11 evolutionary measures of sequence constraint, population differentiation, and allele age while accounting for linkage disequilibrium, allele frequency, and other potential confounders. We demonstrate that this framework yields consistent results across GWASs with variable sample sizes, numbers of trait-associated SNPs, and analytical approaches. The resulting evolutionary atlas maps diverse signatures of selection on genomic regions associated with complex human traits on an unprecedented scale. We detected positive enrichment for sequence conservation among trait-associated regions for the majority of traits (>77% of 290 high power GWASs), which included reproductive traits. Many traits also exhibited substantial positive enrichment for population differentiation, especially among hair, skin, and pigmentation traits. In contrast, we detected widespread negative enrichment for signatures of balancing selection (51% of GWASs) and absence of enrichment for evolutionary signals in regions associated with late-onset Alzheimer's disease. These results support a pervasive role for negative selection on regions of the human genome that contribute to variation in complex traits, but also demonstrate that diverse modes of evolution are likely to have shaped trait-associated loci. This atlas of evolutionary signatures across the diversity of available GWASs will enable exploration of the relationship between the genetic architecture and evolutionary processes in the human genome.
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spelling doaj.art-643e89780bf64aa69bab989163fccd112023-05-19T05:31:05ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Genetics1553-73901553-74042022-11-011811e101049410.1371/journal.pgen.1010494Mosaic patterns of selection in genomic regions associated with diverse human traits.Abin AbrahamAbigail L LaBellaJohn A CapraAntonis RokasNatural selection shapes the genetic architecture of many human traits. However, the prevalence of different modes of selection on genomic regions associated with variation in traits remains poorly understood. To address this, we developed an efficient computational framework to calculate positive and negative enrichment of different evolutionary measures among regions associated with complex traits. We applied the framework to summary statistics from >900 genome-wide association studies (GWASs) and 11 evolutionary measures of sequence constraint, population differentiation, and allele age while accounting for linkage disequilibrium, allele frequency, and other potential confounders. We demonstrate that this framework yields consistent results across GWASs with variable sample sizes, numbers of trait-associated SNPs, and analytical approaches. The resulting evolutionary atlas maps diverse signatures of selection on genomic regions associated with complex human traits on an unprecedented scale. We detected positive enrichment for sequence conservation among trait-associated regions for the majority of traits (>77% of 290 high power GWASs), which included reproductive traits. Many traits also exhibited substantial positive enrichment for population differentiation, especially among hair, skin, and pigmentation traits. In contrast, we detected widespread negative enrichment for signatures of balancing selection (51% of GWASs) and absence of enrichment for evolutionary signals in regions associated with late-onset Alzheimer's disease. These results support a pervasive role for negative selection on regions of the human genome that contribute to variation in complex traits, but also demonstrate that diverse modes of evolution are likely to have shaped trait-associated loci. This atlas of evolutionary signatures across the diversity of available GWASs will enable exploration of the relationship between the genetic architecture and evolutionary processes in the human genome.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1010494
spellingShingle Abin Abraham
Abigail L LaBella
John A Capra
Antonis Rokas
Mosaic patterns of selection in genomic regions associated with diverse human traits.
PLoS Genetics
title Mosaic patterns of selection in genomic regions associated with diverse human traits.
title_full Mosaic patterns of selection in genomic regions associated with diverse human traits.
title_fullStr Mosaic patterns of selection in genomic regions associated with diverse human traits.
title_full_unstemmed Mosaic patterns of selection in genomic regions associated with diverse human traits.
title_short Mosaic patterns of selection in genomic regions associated with diverse human traits.
title_sort mosaic patterns of selection in genomic regions associated with diverse human traits
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1010494
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