Meeting Abstract

P3.6  Wednesday, Jan. 6  A comparative method approach to estimation of heritability with inbred strains DOHM, Michael; Chaminade University, Honolulu mdohm@chaminade.edu

Quantitative genetic studies, now applied to an increasing number of species, remain challenging to do with outbred populations. Thus, use of inbred lines continue to be an important resource for establishing genetic based differences of complex phenotypes. Heritability and genetic correlations from inbred lines are obtained either by controlled crosses or by one-way analysis of variance of strain means. Just like in comparative studies of species, however, this approach assumes statistical independence among the inbred strains. The actual (or estimated) phylogenies available for most inbred strains (e.g., mice, rats) resemble hierarchical species phylogenies and only in special cases do they take on a star, non-hierarchical topology. Thus, the lack of independence among strains will lead to inflated degrees of freedom and invalid estimates of standard errors. Here, I show how use of phylogenetically based methods can be used to improve heritability and genetic correlation estimates from inbred strains, with examples of mice and rat interstrain variation in aerobic capacity.