THE PRINCIPLES OF QTL ANALYSIS (A MINIMAL MATHEMATICS APPROACH)

The combination of molecular marker and trait data to explore the indi vidual genes concerned with quantitative traits, QTL analysis, has bec ome an important tool to allow biologists to dissect the genetics of c omplex characters. However, the mathematical and statistical technique s involved have deterred many from understanding what the methods achi eve and appreciating their strengths and weaknesses. This paper is des igned to give a non-mathematical explanation of the principles underly ing these analyses, to discuss their potential and to provide an intro duction to the techniques used in the subsequent papers in this series of articles based on the SEE symposium.