Sequencing individual genomes with recurrent genomic disorder deletions: an approach to characterize genes for autosomal recessive rare disease traits

Abstract

In medical genetics, discovery and characterization of disease trait contributory genes and alleles depends on genetic reasoning, study design, and patient ascertainment; we now suggest a segmental haploid genetics approach to enhance gene discovery and molecular diagnostics. We present novel genomic insights to enhance discovery in the challenging context of autosomal recessive (AR) traits and bi-allelic variation. We demonstrate computationally that new mutation mediated by nonallelic homologous recombination (NAHR), involving recurrent deletions at 30 genomic regions, likely drives recessive disease burden for over 70% of loci within these segmental deletions or at least 2% of loci genome wide. Meta-analyses of literature-reported patients implicate that NAHR-deletions are depleted from the ascertained pool of AR trait alleles. Exome reanalysis of personal genomes from subjects harboring recurrent deletions uncovered new disease-contributing variants in genes including COX10, ERCC6, PRRT2 and OTUD7A. Our data demonstrate that genomic sequencing of personal genomes with NAHR-deletions could dramatically foment allele and gene discovery, enhance clinical molecular diagnosis, and could potentially enable human haploid genetics screens as an approach to disease biology.