Genotype-covariate correlation and interaction disentangled by a whole-genome multivariate reaction norm model

Ni, G; van Der Werf, J; Zhou, X; Hypponen, E; Wray, NR; Lee, SH; ,

HERO ID

6792800

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year

2019

PMID

31110177

HERO ID 6792800
In Press No
Year 2019
Title Genotype-covariate correlation and interaction disentangled by a whole-genome multivariate reaction norm model
Authors Ni, G; van Der Werf, J; Zhou, X; Hypponen, E; Wray, NR; Lee, SH; ,
Journal Nature Communications
Abstract The genomics era has brought useful tools to dissect the genetic architecture of complex traits. Here we propose a multivariate reaction norm model (MRNM) to tackle genotype-covariate (G-C) correlation and interaction problems. We apply MRNM to the UK Biobank data in analysis of body mass index using smoking quantity as a covariate, finding a highly significant G-C correlation, but only weak evidence for G-C interaction. In contrast, G-C interaction estimates are inflated in existing methods. It is also notable that there is significant heterogeneity in the estimated residual variances (i.e., variances not attributable to factors in the model) across different covariate levels, i.e., residual-covariate (R-C) interaction. We also show that the residual variances estimated by standard additive models can be inflated in the presence of G-C and/or R-C interactions. We conclude that it is essential to correctly account for both interaction and correlation in complex trait analyses.
Doi 10.1038/s41467-019-10128-w
Pmid 31110177
Wosid WOS:000468275100004
Is Certified Translation No
Dupe Override No
Is Public Yes