Founder effect in a Belgian-Dutch fragile X population |
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Authors: | Sonja Buyle Edwin Reyniers Lieve Vits Kristel De Boulle Ingrid Handig Floris L. E. Wuyts Wout Deelen Dicky J. J. Halley Ben A. Oostra Patrick J. Willems |
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Affiliation: | (1) Department of Medical Genetics, University of Antwerp-UIA, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Antwerp, Belgium;(2) Department of Pharmacology, University of Antwerp-UIA, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Antwerp, Belgium;(3) Department of Clinical Genetics, Erasmus University, Dr. Molewaterplein 50, 3153 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands |
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Abstract: | For many years, the high prevalence of the fragile X syndrome was thought to be caused by a high mutation frequency. The recent isolation of the FMR1 gene and identification of the most prevalent mutation enable a more precise study of the fragile X mutation. As the vast majority of fragile X patients show amplification of an unstable trinucleotide repeat, DNA studies can now trace back the origin of the fragile X mutation. To date, de novo mutations leading to amplification of the CGG repeat have not yet been detected. Recently, linkage disequilibrium was found in the Australian and US populations between the fragile X mutation and adjacent polymorphic markers, suggesting a founder effect of the fragile X mutation. We present here a molecular study of Belgian and Dutch fragile X families. No de novo mutations could be found in 54 of these families. Moreover, we found significant (P < 0.0001) linkage disequilibrium in 68 unrelated fragile X patients between the fragile X mutation and an adjacent polymorphic microsatellite at DXS548. This suggests that a founder effect of the fragile X mutation also exists in the Belgian and Dutch populations. Both the absence of new mutations and the presence of linkage disequilibrium suggest that a few ancestral mutations are responsible for most of the patients with fragile X syndrome. |
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