Association of reading disability on chromosome 6p22 in the Afrikaner population.
The genetic basis of reading disability (RD) has long been established through family and twin studies. More recently genetic linkage studies have identified genomic regions that appear to harbor susceptibility genes for RD. Association studies have been shown to have greater power for detecting genes of modest effect, particularly in genetically isolated populations. Hence, a case control study of RD was undertaken in the Afrikaner population in South Africa. Sixty-eight microsatellite markers in regions where linkages had been reported in previous studies were genotyped on 122 children with reading disability and 112 typically reading controls drawn from the same school population. A single allele of marker D6S299 showed a highly significant association with the RD phenotype (D6S299[229], P-value 0.000014). Other markers on other chromosomes also showed suggestive associations. Of particular interest were markers on chromosomes 1 and 15. These two regions have been implicated in studies of populations that formed the founding population in the Afrikaner population.
Platko
Jill V
JV
Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.
Wood
Frank B
FB
Pelser
Izelda
I
Meyer
Marianne
M
Gericke
George S
GS
O'Rourke
Julia
J
Birns
Julie
J
Purcell
Shaun
S
Pauls
David L
DL
D000483:Alleles; D044383:Black People / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002878:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 1; D002884:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 15; D002896:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 6; D004410:Dyslexia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology