Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2019 Aug 31:20:433-460.
doi: 10.1146/annurev-genom-083118-014857. Epub 2019 May 13.

The Causes and Consequences of Genetic Interactions (Epistasis)

Affiliations
Review

The Causes and Consequences of Genetic Interactions (Epistasis)

Júlia Domingo et al. Annu Rev Genomics Hum Genet. .

Abstract

The same mutation can have different effects in different individuals. One important reason for this is that the outcome of a mutation can depend on the genetic context in which it occurs. This dependency is known as epistasis. In recent years, there has been a concerted effort to quantify the extent of pairwise and higher-order genetic interactions between mutations through deep mutagenesis of proteins and RNAs. This research has revealed two major components of epistasis: nonspecific genetic interactions caused by nonlinearities in genotype-to-phenotype maps, and specific interactions between particular mutations. Here, we provide an overview of our current understanding of the mechanisms causing epistasis at the molecular level, the consequences of genetic interactions for evolution and genetic prediction, and the applications of epistasis for understanding biology and determining macromolecular structures.

Keywords: epistasis; genetic interactions.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources