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Comparative Study
. 2002 Jun;12(6):956-61.
doi: 10.1101/gr.136202.

Extended intermarker linkage disequilibrium in the Afrikaners

Diana Hall  1 , Ellen M Wijsman, J Louw Roos, Joseph A Gogos, Maria Karayiorgou
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Extended intermarker linkage disequilibrium in the Afrikaners

Diana Hall et al. Genome Res. 2002 Jun.

Abstract

In this study we conducted an investigation of the background level of linkage disequilibrium (LD) in the Afrikaner population to evaluate the appropriateness of this genetic isolate for mapping complex traits. We analyzed intermarker LD in 62 nuclear families using microsatellite markers covering extended chromosomal regions. The markers were selected to allow the first direct comparison of long-range LD in the Afrikaners to LD in other demographic groups. Using several statistical measures, we find significant evidence for LD in the Afrikaners extending remarkably over a 6-cM range. In contrast, LD decays significantly beyond 3-cM distances in the other founder and outbred populations examined. This study strongly supports the appropriateness of the Afrikaner population for genome-wide scans that exploit LD to map common, multigenic disorders.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Relationship between multiallelic D‘m (a) and G2 (b) values and genetic distance (cM) across populations. Solid lines are linear regression best fit lines.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of the strength of linkage disequilibrium (LD) on chromosomes 18 and 4 in the Afrikaners. Multiallelic D‘m (a) and G2 (b) are plotted against genetic distance (cM). Each point represents one pair of markers. Solid lines are linear regression best fit lines.
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