Localization of Usher syndrome type II to chromosome 1q

Molecular characterization of a patient with del(1)(q23-q25)

We report a patient (S.T.) with multiple congenital anomalies and developmental delay associated with an interstitial deletion of 1q23-1q25. Molecular analysis of the deletion was performed using DNA markers that map to 1q. Five DNA markers, MLAJ-1 (D1S61), CRI-L1054 (D1S42), HBI40 (D1S66), OS-6 (D1S75), and BH516 (D1S110), were demonstrated to be deleted. Informative polymorphisms demonstrated this to be a de novo deletion of the maternally derived chromosome. Deletion status was determined using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis supplemented with densitometry in the experiments where RFLP analysis was not fully informative. Deletions were confirmed by Southern analysis using genomic DNA from a somatic cell hybrid retaining the del(1)(q23-q25) chromosome that was constructed from patient S.T. Flow karyotyping confirmed the deletion and estimated that the deletion encompassed 11,000-16,000 kb. The clinical and cytogenetic characteristics of S.T. are compared with those of ten previously described patients with monosomy 1q21-1q25.

The CEPH consortium linkage map of human chromosome 1

This paper describes the Centre d'Etude du Polymorphisme Humain (CEPH) consortium linkage map of human chromosome 1. The map contains 101 loci defined by genotypes generated from CEPH family DNAs with 146 different contributions from 11 laboratories. A total of 58 loci are uniquely placed on the map with likelihood support of at least 1000:1. The map extends from loci in the terminal bands of both chromosome arms (locus D1Z2 in 1p36.3 and D1S68 in 1q44) and is anchored at the centromere by the D1Z5 alpha-satellite polymorphism. With the exception of a single locus, the remaining loci are arrayed on the fixed map in short intervals and their possible locations are indicated. Multipoint linkage analyses provided estimates that the male, female, and sex-averaged maps extend for 308, 478, and 390 cM, respectively. The sex-averaged map contains only four intervals greater than 15 cM, and the mean genetic distance between the 58 uniquely placed loci is 6.7 cM.

Retinitis pigmentosa: genetic mapping in X-linked and autosomal forms of the disease

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is an hereditary degenerative disease of the retina and a major cause of visual impairment, prevalence estimates ranging from 1 in 3000 to 1 in 7000. The condition may segregate as an autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive or an X-linked recessive trait and it may also occur on a sporadic basis in up to 50% of cases. In the autosomal dominant form, close linkage to the DNA marker C17 (D3S47) was recently established in a large family of Irish origin displaying early-onset disease (McWilliam et al. 1989), multipoint analysis indicating the gene for rhodopsin as a likely candidate (Farrar et al. 1990). In that gene, a C----A transversion in codon 23, resulting in a proline----histidine substitution has now been identified in 17 of 148 unrelated ADRP patients in the United States (Dryja et al. 1990). This mutation is absent however in the original Irish pedigree (it is also absent in 21 other dominant Irish pedigrees, representing approximately 70% of the estimated ADRP population) indicating that another mutation, either in rhodopsin itself, or in a gene very closely linked to rhodopsin is responsible for the disease in that family. Analysis of other dominant pedigrees using the C17 and/or rhodopsin probes has indicated either tight linkage (Bhattacharya, Personal Communication), looser linkage, possibly indicative of a second locus on 3q (Olsson et al. 1990) or no linkage (Farrar et al. 1990, Blanton et al. 1990, Inglehearn et al. 1990). Extensive genetic heterogeneity thus exists in the autosomal dominant form of this disease, and in the light of these new observations, earlier tentative evidence for linkage of ADRP to the Rhesus locus on chromosome 1 will be re-evaluated. A locus for type II Usher syndrome (classical RP combined with congenital pedial deafness, and normal vestibular function) has now been established on the long arm of chromosome 1 (Kimberling et al. 1990). Type I Usher families, in which hearing loss is more profound and vestibular function absent, do not segregate with the same chromosome 1q markers, indicating the existence of another, as yet unlocated gene. In the X-linked form of the disease, two genes, XLRP2 and XLRP3, have been located on the proximal short arm of the X chromosome using a combination of physical and linkage mapping techniques, and there is some evidence to suggest a possible third locus more distally located.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Mapping recessive ophthalmic diseases: linkage of the locus for Usher syndrome type II to a DNA marker on chromosome 1q

Usher syndrome is a heterogeneous group of autosomal recessive disorders that combines variably severe congenital neurosensory hearing impairment with progressive night-blindness and visual loss similar to that in retinitis pigmentosa. Usher syndrome type I is distinguished by profound congenital (preverbal) deafness and retinal disease with onset in the first decade of life. Usher syndrome type II is characterized by partial hearing impairment and retinal dystrophy that occurs in late adolescence or early adulthood. The chromosomal assignment and the regional localization of the genetic mutation(s) causing the Usher syndromes are unknown. We analyzed a panel of polymorphic genomic markers for linkage to the disease gene among six families with Usher syndrome type I and 22 families with Usher syndrome type II. Significant linkage was established between Usher syndrome type II and the DNA marker locus THH33 (D1S81), which maps to chromosome 1q. The most likely location of the disease gene is at a map distance of 9 cM from THH33 (lod score 6.5). The same marker failed to show linkage in families segregating an allele for Usher syndrome type I. These data confirm the provisional assignment of the locus for Usher syndrome type II to the distal end of chromosome 1q and demonstrate that the clinical heterogeneity between Usher types I and II is caused by mutational events at different genetic loci. Regional localization has the potential to improve carrier detection and to provide antenatal diagnosis in families at risk for the disease.