Genetic architecture of Mus musculus growth

• Grant number: 25/01020-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: April 21, 2025
• End date: October 20, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biology
• Principal Investigator: Gabriel Henrique Marroig Zambonato
• Grantee: Vítor Craveiro Fusco
• Supervisor: Jason B Wolf
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Bath, England
• Associated to the scholarship: 24/09366-2 - Phenotypic and genotypic modularity in Mus strains, BP.MS

Abstract

Understanding the effects of modifications to the structure of the genetic architecture of organisms on variation and phenotypic changes in a population is fundamental to understanding how the characteristics of organisms are formed. After all, phenotypic changes are expected to be related to genetic changes. Changes in the genetic architecture underlying the development process are not only subject to evolutionary processes, but also have an impact on the relationship between phenotypic characters and, consequently, on the evolution of phenotypes. Epistasis caused by various factors such as the development process itself, by modifying the pleiotropic effects of genes, is one of the factors responsible for changes in genetic architecture. Therefore, this project aims to deepen, in discussion with the research group abroad, the QTL analysis of an F6 generation resulting from crosses of 4 mouse strains maintained under multivariate selection to alter the growth curve in different periods and in different ways, seeking to describe the genetic architecture of the growth of this population and its possible variations. To do this, we obtained data on the mass of the individuals throughout their growth, making it possible to parameterize the growth curves, data on phenotypic characteristics in adults and approximately 4000 SNPs for each individual.