Genome-wide association meta-analysis of individuals of European ancestry identifies new loci explaining a substantial fraction of hair color variation and heritability
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Author(s):
Pirro G. Hysi, Ana M. Valdes, Fan Liu, Nicholas A. Furlotte, David M. Evans, Veronique Bataille, Alessia Visconti, Gibran Hemani, George McMahon, Susan M. Ring, George Davey Smith, David L. Duffy, Gu Zhu, Scott D. Gordon, Sarah E. Medland, Bochao D. Lin, Gonneke Willemsen, Jouke Jan Hottenga, Dragana Vuckovic, Giorgia Girotto, Ilaria Gandin, Cinzia Sala, Maria Pina Concas, Marco Brumat, Paolo Gasparini, Daniela Toniolo, Massimiliano Cocca, Antonietta Robino, Seyhan Yazar, Alex W. Hewitt, Yan Chen, Changqing Zeng, Andre G. Uitterlinden, M. Arfan Ikram, Merel A. Hamer, Cornelia M. van Duijn, Tamar Nijsten, David A. Mackey, Mario Falchi, Dorret I. Boomsma, Nicholas G. Martin, The International Visible Trait Genetics Consortium, David A. Hinds, Manfred Kayser, Timothy D. Spector
Hair color is one of the most recognizable visual traits in European populations and is under strong genetic control. Here we report the results of a genome-wide association study meta-analysis of almost 300,000 participants of European descent. We identified 123 autosomal and one X-chromosome loci significantly associated with hair color; all but 13 are novel. Collectively, single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with hair color within these loci explain 34.6% of red hair, 24.8% of blond hair, and 26.1% of black hair heritability in the study populations. These results confirm the polygenic nature of complex phenotypes and improve our understanding of melanin pigment metabolism in humans.
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