Exome sequencing and subsequent association studies identify five amino acid-altering variants influencing human height

Height is a highly heritable trait that involves multiple genetic loci. To identify causal variants that influence stature, we sequenced whole exomes of four children with idiopathic short stature. Ninety-five nonsynonymous single-nucleotide polymorphisms (nsSNPs) were selected as potential candidate variants. We performed association analysis in 740 cohort individuals and identified 11 nsSNPs in 10 loci ( DIS3L2 , ZBTB38 , FAM154A , PTCH1 , TSSC4 , KIF18A , GPR133 , ACAN , FAM59A , and NINL ) associated with adult height ( P < 0.05), including five novel loci. Of these, two nsSNPs ( TSSC4 and KIF18A loci) were significant at P < 0.05 in the replication study ( n = 1,000) and five ( ZBTB38 , FAM154A , TSSC4 , KIF18A , and FAM59 A loci) were significant at P < 0.01 in the combined analysis ( n = 1,740). Together, the five nsSNPs accounted for approximately 2.5% of the height variation. This study demonstrated the utility of next-generation sequencing in identifying genetic variants and loci associated with complex traits.