A comprehensive genomic scan reveals gene dosage balance impacts on quantitative traits in Populus trees

In this collaboration with Heloise Bastiaanse and Andrew Groover (USFS), we are following-up on our poplar gamma irradiated mutant population (http://www.plantcell.org/content/27/9/2370.long) to describe the effect of dosage variation on quantitative traits. Hundreds of sibling hybrid trees carrying large-scale deletions and insertions were established in a replicated field in Placerville, CA and characterized for a variety of phenotypic traits. In this article, we introduce the concept of dosage qtl, the association between gene dosage and trait values, and discuss the effect of gene variation on phenology and biomass related traits.