RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Transient structural variations have strong effects on quantitative traits and reproductive isolation in fission yeast JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 047266 DO 10.1101/047266 A1 Jeffares, Daniel C. A1 Jolly, Clemency A1 Hoti, Mimoza A1 Speed, Doug A1 Shaw, Liam A1 Rallis, Charalampos A1 Balloux, Francois A1 Dessimoz, Christophe A1 Bähler, Jürg A1 Sedlazeck, Fritz J. YR 2016 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/10/03/047266.abstract AB Large structural variations (SVs) in the genome are harder to identify than smaller genetic variants but may substantially contribute to phenotypic diversity and evolution. Here we analyze the effects of SVs on gene expression, quantitative traits, and intrinsic reproductive isolation in the yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. We establish a high-quality curated catalog of SVs in the genomes of a worldwide library of S. pombe strains, including duplications, deletions, inversions and translocations. We show that copy number variants (CNVs) frequently segregate within closely related clonal populations, are weakly linked to single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and show other genetic signals consistent with rapid turnover. These transient CNVs produce stoichiometric effects on gene expression both within and outside the duplicated regions. CNVs make substantial contributions to quantitative traits such as cell shape, cell growth under diverse conditions, sugar utilization in winemaking, whereas rearrangements are strongly associated with reproductive isolation. Collectively, these findings have broad implications for evolution and for our understanding of quantitative traits including complex human diseases.