A comprehensive genomic scan reveals gene dosage balance impacts on quantitative traits inPopulustrees

Significance Phenotypic trait variation can be linked to genomic sequence variation. These differences range from a single nucleotide to larger insertion and deletion (indel) of chromosomal segments. Indels can change the copy number of affected genes, which can create complex phenotypic trait variation through effects on gene expression. For example, gene dosage variation has been associated with various human chronic diseases. Here we systematically explored the effect of induced gene dosage variation on quantitative trait variation inPopulus . We show that gene dosage variation at specific chromosomal locations and also gene dosage balance at a global genomic scale are both major determinants of quantitative trait variation in a plant species.