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Men and women differ substantially regarding height, weight, and body fat. Interestingly, previous work detecting genetic effects for waist-to-hip ratio, to assess body fat distribution, has found that many of these showed sex-differences. However, systematic searches for sex-differences in genetic effects have not yet been conducted. Therefore, we undertook a genome-wide search for sexually dimorphic genetic effects for anthropometric traits including 133,723 individuals in a large meta-analysis and followed promising variants in further 137,052 individuals, including a total of 94 studies. We identified seven loci with significant sex-difference including four previously established (near GRB14/COBLL1, LYPLAL1/SLC30A10, VEGFA, ADAMTS9) and three novel anthropometric trait loci (near MAP3K1, HSD17B4, PPARG), all of which were significant in women, but not in men. Of interest is that sex-difference was only observed for waist phenotypes, but not for height or body-mass-index. We found no evidence for sex-differences with opposite effect direction for men and women. The PPARG locus is of specific interest due to its link to diabetes genetics and therapy. Our findings demonstrate the importance of investigating sex differences, which may lead to a better understanding of disease mechanisms with a potential relevance to treatment options.
To assist with planning and conservation strategies, mapping of wetlands above 700 m elevation across the Namoi Catchment (east of Tamworth) was undertaken. The number of hectares of each type within this high-elevation region, the area currently in conservation reserves and the status of these remnants was assessed. 1 001 wetlands were mapped and allocated to three wetland types (fens, bogs and lagoons) and six disturbance groups (based on agricultural clearing and presence of dams). Total wetlands cover was 4 490 ha, of which fens were the most common, followed by bogs and a single lagoon. The smallest wetland was 0.12 ha in size, the largest 113 ha and the average 5 ha. Only 10% of all wetlands were considered to be in near natural state with only 5.5% of all wetland area protected within conservation reserves.