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
. 2022 Feb 17;113(1):1-15.
doi: 10.1093/jhered/esab059.

Indirect Genetic Effects: A Cross-disciplinary Perspective on Empirical Studies

Amelie Baud  1   2 , Sarah McPeek  3 , Nancy Chen  4 , Kimberly A Hughes  5
Affiliations

Indirect Genetic Effects: A Cross-disciplinary Perspective on Empirical Studies

Amelie Baud et al. J Hered. .

Abstract

Indirect genetic effects (IGE) occur when an individual's phenotype is influenced by genetic variation in conspecifics. Opportunities for IGE are ubiquitous, and, when present, IGE have profound implications for behavioral, evolutionary, agricultural, and biomedical genetics. Despite their importance, the empirical study of IGE lags behind the development of theory. In large part, this lag can be attributed to the fact that measuring IGE, and deconvoluting them from the direct genetic effects of an individual's own genotype, is subject to many potential pitfalls. In this Perspective, we describe current challenges that empiricists across all disciplines will encounter in measuring and understanding IGE. Using ideas and examples spanning evolutionary, agricultural, and biomedical genetics, we also describe potential solutions to these challenges, focusing on opportunities provided by recent advances in genomic, monitoring, and phenotyping technologies. We hope that this cross-disciplinary assessment will advance the goal of understanding the pervasive effects of conspecific interactions in biology.

Keywords: dynastic effect; genetic nurture; indirect genetic effect; interacting phenotypes; neighbor effect; social genetic effect.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 2.1.
Figure 2.1.
Example of correlation between focal environment and partner genotype.
Figure 2.2.
Figure 2.2.
Example of correlation between partner environment and partner genotype.
Figure 2.3.
Figure 2.3.
Example of correlation between direct and social genotypes.
Figure 2.4.
Figure 2.4.
Example of shared environmental effects in the presence of a positive correlation between DGE and IGE.
Figure 2.5.
Figure 2.5.
Theoretical illustration of a spurious association arising from the genoytpic correlation with a causal locus in an IGE mapping study.
Figure 2.6.
Figure 2.6.
Greater sampling variance of the correlation between direct and social genotypes when each individual in the sample is used as both focal individual and social partner.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Agrawal A, Heath AC, Grant JD, Pergadia ML, Statham DJ, Bucholz KK, Martin NG, Madden PA. 2006. Assortative mating for cigarette smoking and for alcohol consumption in female Australian twins and their spouses. Behav Genet. 36:553–566. - PubMed
    1. Aguillo M, Hazelwood C, Quarles B, Donohue K. 2022. Genetic consequences of niche construction. J Hered. 113:26–36. - PubMed
    1. Alarcón‐Nieto G, Graving JM, Klarevas‐Irby JA, Maldonado‐Chaparro AA, Mueller I, Farine DR. 2018. An automated barcode tracking system for behavioural studies in birds. Methods Ecol Evol. 9:1536–1547.
    1. Altmann J. 1974. Observational study of behavior: sampling methods. Behaviour. 49:227–267. - PubMed
    1. Arac A, Zhao P, Dobkin BH, Carmichael ST, Golshani P. 2019. DeepBehavior: a deep learning toolbox for automated analysis of animal and human behavior imaging data. Front Syst Neurosci. 13:20. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types