Rao, D. C. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2020

Efficient gene-environment interaction tests for large biobank-scale sequencing studies

Complex human diseases are affected by genetic and environmental risk factors and their interactions. Gene-environment interaction (GEI) tests for aggregate genetic variant sets have been developed in recent years. However, existing statistical methods become rate limiting for large biobank-scale sequencing studies with correlated samples. We propose efficient Mixed-model Association tests for GEne-Environment interactions (MAGEE), for testing GEI between an aggregate variant set and environmental exposures on quantitative and binary traits in large-scale sequencing studies with related individuals. Joint tests for the aggregate genetic main effects and GEI effects are also developed. A null generalized linear mixed model adjusting for covariates but without any genetic effects is fit only once in a whole genome GEI analysis, thereby vastly reducing the overall computational burden. Score tests for variant sets are performed as a combination of genetic burden and variance component tests by accounting for the genetic main effects using matrix projections. The computational complexity is dramatically reduced in a whole genome GEI analysis, which makes MAGEE scalable to hundreds of thousands of individuals. We applied MAGEE to the exome sequencing data of 41,144 related individuals from the UK Biobank, and the analysis of 18,970 protein coding genes finished within 10.4 CPU hours.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2020

Population sequencing data reveal a compendium of mutational processes in human germline

Mechanistic processes underlying human germline mutations remain largely unknown. Variation in mutation rate and spectra along the genome is informative about the biological mechanisms. We statistically decompose this variation into separate processes using a blind source separation technique. The analysis of a large-scale whole genome sequencing dataset (TOPMed) reveals nine processes that explain the variation in mutation properties between loci. Seven of these processes lend themselves to a biological interpretation. One process is driven by bulky DNA lesions that resolve asymmetrically with respect to transcription and replication. Two processes independently track direction of replication fork and replication timing. We identify a mutagenic effect of active demethylation primarily acting in regulatory regions. We also demonstrate that a recently discovered mutagenic process specific to oocytes can be localized solely from population sequencing data. This process is spread across all chromosomes and is highly asymmetric with respect to the direction of transcription, suggesting a major role of DNA damage.

genetics↗