from Charles Hall writing in Neurospora: Genomics and Molecular Biology:
Since the 1940s, researchers have used Neurospora species in pioneering genetic analyses providing many discoveries in genetics and molecular biology. Several complex phenotypes continue to be the focus of Neurospora research, including spore germination, hyphal growth, aerial hyphae formation and asexual spore production, meiosis and sexual spore development, epigenetics and circadian rhythm. Surprisingly, unlike the many genes that have been discovered to regulate Mendelian trains in N. crassa, studies of complex traits in are in their infancy and few researchers have taken advantage of natural variation in phenotype. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping and genome-wide association mapping (GWA) have proven to be highly effective methods for studying genetically complex traits. These methods link phenotypic data and genotypic data in an attempt to explain the genetic basis of variation in complex traits. Here I present a review of the principles that underlie these analyses, as well as some common methods for the collection and analysis of QTL and GWA data. We also present a review of quantitative genetics studies in Neurospora. Currently, quantitative studies in Neurospora center around two primary areas of research: circadian clock and the identification of genes involved in the reinforcement of mating barriers between Neurospora crassa and Neurospora intermedia. Recently the emergence of short-read high-throughput sequencing methods have allowed for the sampling of variation within populations of N. crassa at reasonable cost and effort. We further describe the use of these sequencing methods to construct a data set that allows for genome-wide association studies with a Louisiana population of N. crassa.
Further reading: Neurospora: Genomics and Molecular Biology