1 Supplementary Document 1. Methodology
2 Sample Ascertainment
3 The study protocol was approved by Griffith University Human Research Ethics Committee.
4 All subjects provided signed, informed consent prior to participation. Data collection
5 procedures have been described in detail elsewhere [1]. In brief, subjects were ascertained
6 based on permanent resident status (not selected on phenotypes of interest), to ensure
7 sampling of individuals from the same genealogical background. In the first instance
8 phenotypic data and biological specimens were obtained from 600 subjects (261 males, 339
9 females) with a mean age of 50.8 years (standard deviation of 16.4 years). Venous blood
10 specimens were available for 600 individuals from their visit to a temporary research clinic
11 on Norfolk Island, carried out during 2000. Blood samples were collected in EDTA tubes.
12 DNA was isolated from a 10-20ml sample using a standard salting-out procedure [2]. DNA
13 concentration (ng/µl) and purity (260nm:280nm) were determined spectrophometrically
14 using the NanoDrop ND-1000 (NanoDrop Technologies, Inc.). Phenotypic data were
15 obtained via a comprehensive medical questionnaire that included a section specific to
16 migraine. Detailed questions regarding family history, symptoms, triggers, and medication
17 were obtained. Migraine diagnosis was established in accordance with current IHS guidelines
18 [3].
19 Genealogical Structure
20
21
Genealogical data was obtained via questionnaire, and municipal and historical records.
These records indicate Pitcairn Island was settled by 9 Isle of man ‘Bounty’ mutineers, 12
22 Tahitian women and 6 Tahitian men in 1790 [4]. Pedigree reconstruction and validation has
23 confirmed current descendents possess lineages to all 9 ‘Bounty’ mutineers, 6 of the Tahitian
24 women and 2 additional Caucasian sailors who joined the small colony during the early 19 th
25 century [1, 5, 6]. A total of 377 individuals were determined to have familial links to these 17
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1 founders and were integrated into heritability analyses. The size and complexity of the
2 genealogical structure (N=6,537) and large volume of missing data prohibited direct use in
3 variance component linkage analysis [7]. To facilitate analysis, the pedigree was split
4 ( N =1,078) using a peeling algorithm in the pedigree database management system PEDSYS
5 [8]. This 1,078 member pedigree has been previously employed in genome-wide screens of
6 cardiovascular risk traits [7].
7
8
SNP genotyping
DNA samples were genotyped according to the manufacturer’s instructions on Illumina
9 Infinium High Density (HD) Human610-Quad DNA analysis BeadChip version 1. A total of
10 620,901 genome wide markers were genotyped in a sub-sample of 285 related individuals
11 (135 males; 150 females). Of these related individuals include 76 migraine cases (22 males;
12 54 females). Markers had a median spacing of 2.7kb (mean = 4.7kb) throughout the genome.
13 Each Human610-Quad DNA analysis BeadChip employed a four-sample format requiring
14 200ng of DNA per sample. Samples were scanned on the Illumina BeadArray 500GX
15 Reader. Raw data was obtained using Illumina BeadScan image data acquisition software
16 (version 2.3.0.13). Preliminary analysis of raw data was undertaken in Illumina BeadStudio
17 software (version 1.5.0.34) with the recommended parameters for the Infinium assay and
18 using genotype cluster files provided by Illumina. Individuals with a call rate below 95% and
19 SNPs with a call rate below 99%, deviating from Hardy-Wienberg equilibrium ( p
HWE
<1x10
-7
)
20 or with a minor allele frequency of less than 1% were excluded from analysis. Genotypic data
21 was analysed for discrepancies, including Mendelian inheritance violations using the
22 PEDSYS program INFER [8] and Simwalk2 [9]. The Pedigree RElationship Statistical Test
23 (PREST) was used to verify the pedigree structure and detect relationship misspecification
24 [10]. Discrepant genotypes were blanked prior to analysis. SNPs were annotated using
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1 information available from the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Build
2 36.3.
3 Statistical analysis: Heritability and Pedigree-Based Association
4 General characteristics of the subjects in each group were assessed using SPSS version 14.0
5 for windows (SPSS, Chicago, IL). All statistical analyses on related individuals were
6 conducted using variance components-based methodology implemented in the Sequential
7 Oligonucleotide Linkage Analysis Routines (SOLAR) version 4.0.6 software package.
8 Heritability ( h
2
) estimates were calculated as the ratio of the trait variance that is explained by
9 additive polygenic effects to total phenotypic variance of the trait [11]. The applied polygenic
10
11 model assumes an infinite number of genetic factors, each with a small additive effect contributing to the trait variance (‘narrow sense’ heritability). Estimates were screened for the
12 covariate effects of age, age-squared, sex and their interactions to allow for differential
13 symptom prevalence in males and females and adjusted for the variable age of onset.
14 Covariates with P -values less than or equal to 0.05 were retained in the final model.
15 Dichotomous trait analysis was enabled by assuming a liability threshold model, with an
16 underlying multivariate normal distribution [12].
17 Two additional covariates, of potential interest to this study, the inbreeding (F) and ancestry
18 coefficient (Q) were also screened. The ancestry coefficient is a measure of the degree of
19 Polynesian and Caucasian admixture in the Norfolk pedigree. A value of 0 indicates no
20 Polynesian ancestry. A value of 1 signifies full Polynesian ancestry. A significant ancestry-
21 specific effect would warrant further investigation by admixture mapping. In contrast, F
22 reflects the probability that 2 alleles at a locus are identical by descent (IBD). A value of 0
23 indicates no inbreeding. As the coefficient approaches 1 the level of inbreeding increases.
A
24 significant covariate effect would support recessive inheritance and founder effect for
25 migraine. Both these coefficients have been previously described in the Norfolk population
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1 [13]. Briefly, coefficients were calculated using PEDIG software assuming the complete
2 founder pedigree that spans more than 200 years and includes the direct descendents of the
3 population founders as well as recent married-in individuals [13, 14]. Specifically, the
4 Meuwissen and Luo method was used to calculate F [15].
The covariate effects of ancestry
5 and inbreeding were explored by mixed (polygenic) model analysis.
6 Genome-wide association testing was performed using measured genotype analysis [16],
7 embedded in a variance components-based linkage model [17]. This assumed an additive
8 model of allelic effect, where SNP genotypes AA, AB and BB were coded as -1, 0 and 1,
9 respectively and used as a linear predictor of phenotype [17]. A total of 544,590 SNPs across
10 chromosomes 1 to 22 were available for analysis. The genome-wide significance threshold
11 was estimated empirically for this population by calculating the minimum number of
12 effective tests (M eff
) using the simple M program [18]. SNP results were annotated using the
13 Whole Genome Association Study Viewer (WAGViewer) program [19] and NCBI Build
14 37.1.
15
16 Replication Cohort
17 Important findings were further assessed in an independent case-control cohorts from the
18
Women’s Genome Health Study (WGHS) [20, 21]. Ascertainment and ethical approval of
19 these cohorts are described in detail elsewhere [20-22]. The WGHS cohort included 23,294
20 female participants aged 45 and older of European ancestry for which whole blood samples
21 and phenotypic data is available. Migraine phenotypic data is available for 23,230 of these
22 participants. In total, genotypic information was available for 21,008 controls and 4,705
23 migraineurs.
24 A candidate gene association analysis was also undertaken as part of this study. The same
25 statistical approach was applied for association analysis of candidate loci, however a local
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1 type I error of α = 0.05 was applied. A Bonferroni adjustment was not required to protect
2 against type I error inflation as the application of selection criteria for candidate genes
3 negates the global null hypothesis. This approach has been successfully implemented in a
4 GWAS to identify novel loci influencing serum cholesterol levels [23]. This approach was
5 implemented to identify novel gene candidates for future evaluation in the Norfolk pedigree.
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