Genome-wide linkage scan localizes the harlequin locus in the Great Dane to chromosome 9.
Harlequin is a coat pattern of the Great Dane characterized by ragged patches of full color on a white background. Harlequin patterning is a bigenic trait, resulting from the interaction of the merle allele of SILV, and a dominant modifier locus, H. Breeding data suggest that H is embryonic recessive lethal and that all harlequins are Hh. To identify linkage with the harlequin phenotype, 46 Great Danes from 5 pedigrees were genotyped for 280 microsatellite markers in a whole genome screen. One marker on the telomeric end of chromosome 9 was suggestive of linkage. Fine mapping of this region using additional microsatellite markers and 10 Great Danes from a sixth pedigree resulted in significant LOD scores for 2 markers. Reported herein is linkage mapping of the H locus to a 3.27 Mb region of chromosome 9 containing approximately 20 genes.
Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-4467, USA.
Leigh Anne
LA
Clark
Alison N
AN
Starr
Kate L
KL
Tsai
Keith E
KE
Murphy
D000818:Animals; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D004285:Dogs / Q000235:genetics*; D005838:Genotype; D006200:Hair Color / Q000235:genetics*; D006579:Heterozygote; D010375:Pedigree