Evidence for linkage and association with reading disability on 6p21.3-22.

Reading disability (RD), or dyslexia, is a common heterogeneous syndrome with a large genetic component. Several studies have consistently found evidence for a quantitative-trait locus (QTL) within the 17 Mb (14.9 cM) that span D6S109 and D6S291 on chromosome 6p21.3-22. To characterize further linkage to the QTL, to define more accurately the location and the effect size, and to identify a peak of association, we performed Haseman-Elston and DeFries-Fulker linkage analyses, as well as transmission/disequilibrium, total-association, and variance-components analyses, on 11 quantitative reading and language phenotypes. One hundred four families with RD were genotyped with a new panel of 29 markers that spans 9 Mb of this region. Linkage results varied widely in degree of statistical significance for the different linkage tests, but multipoint analysis suggested a peak near D6S461. The average 6p QTL heritability for the 11 reading and language phenotypes was 0.27, with a maximum of 0.66 for orthographic choice. Consistent with the region of linkage described by these studies and others, there was a peak of transmission disequilibrium with a QTL centered at JA04 (chi2=9.48; empirical P=.0033; orthographic choice), and there was strong evidence for total association at this same marker (chi2=11.49; P=.0007; orthographic choice). Although the boundaries of the peak could not be precisely defined, the most likely location of the QTL is within a 4-Mb region surrounding JA04.

Peaks of linkage are localized by a BAC/PAC contig of the 6p reading disability locus.

A gene for reading disability has been localized by nonparametric linkage to 6p21.3-p22 in several published reports. However, the lack of an uninterrupted genomic clone contig has made it difficult to determine accurate intermarker distances, precise marker order, and genetic boundaries and hinders direct comparisons of linkage. The search and discovery of the hemochromatosis gene (HFE) led to the creation of a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) and P-1 derived artificial chromosome (PAC) contig that extended physical maps 4 Mb from the MHC toward pter and localized new markers in that region [10-12]. Using this contig, we localized 124 sequence tagged sites, expressed sequence tags, and short tandem repeats including most of the markers in linkage with reading disability phenotypes, succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase, GPLD1, prolactin, and 18 uncharacterized genes. This new contig joins and extends previously published physical maps to span the entire chromosome 6 reading disability genetic locus. Physical mapping data from the complete contig show overlap of the published linkage peaks for reading disability, provide accurate intermarker distances and order, and offer resources for generating additional markers and candidate genes for high resolution genetic studies in this region.