Laboratory of Systems Biology and Genetics, Institute of Bioengineering, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
Roel PJ Bevers
Laboratory of Systems Biology and Genetics, Institute of Bioengineering, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
Fabrice PA David
Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland; Bioinformatics Competence Center, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
Emily Rosschaert
Laboratory of Systems Biology and Genetics, Institute of Bioengineering, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland; Laboratory of Behavioral and Developmental Genetics, Center for Human Genetics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Romain Rochepeau
Laboratory of Systems Biology and Genetics, Institute of Bioengineering, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
Laboratory of Systems Biology and Genetics, Institute of Bioengineering, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
Genome-wide association studies have advanced our understanding of complex traits, but studying how a GWAS variant can affect a specific trait in the human population remains challenging due to environmental variability. Drosophila melanogaster is in this regard an excellent model organism for studying the relationship between genetic and phenotypic variation due to its simple handling, standardized growth conditions, low cost, and short lifespan. The Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP) in particular has been a valuable tool for studying complex traits, but proper harmonization and indexing of DGRP phenotyping data is necessary to fully capitalize on this resource. To address this, we created a web tool called DGRPool (dgrpool.epfl.ch), which aggregates phenotyping data of 1034 phenotypes across 135 DGRP studies in a common environment. DGRPool enables users to download data and run various tools such as genome-wide (GWAS) and phenome-wide (PheWAS) association studies. As a proof-of-concept, DGRPool was used to study the longevity phenotype and uncovered both established and unexpected correlations with other phenotypes such as locomotor activity, starvation resistance, desiccation survival, and oxidative stress resistance. DGRPool has the potential to facilitate new genetic and molecular insights of complex traits in Drosophila and serve as a valuable, interactive tool for the scientific community.
