Linkage disequilibrium and demographic history of the isolated population of the Faroe Islands

TY - JOUR

T1 - Linkage disequilibrium and demographic history of the isolated population of the Faroe Islands

AU - Jorgensen, Tove H

AU - Degn, Birte

AU - Wang, August G

AU - Vang, Maria

AU - Gurling, Hugh

AU - Kalsi, Gursharan

AU - McQuillin, Andrew

AU - Kruse, Torben A

AU - Mors, Ole

AU - Ewald, Henrik

N1 - Keywords: Atlantic Islands; Chromosome Mapping; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 12; Demography; Genetic Markers; Genetic Variation; Genetics, Population; Haplotypes; Humans; Linkage Disequilibrium; Microsatellite Repeats

PY - 2002

Y1 - 2002

N2 - The isolated population of the Faroe Islands has a history of recent expansion after being limited to a small size for centuries. Such an isolated population may be ideal for linkage disequilibrium mapping of disease genes if linkage disequilibrium (LD) extends over large regions. Analyses of 18 markers on 12q24.3, spanning a region of 4.3 Mb (16 cM), revealed extensive LD in the Faroese population. Maximum LD was found between marker pairs separated by more than 3.8 Mb. The same region had a maximum LD of only 1.2 and 1.4 Mb respectively in two outbred Danish and British populations analysed here for comparison. The analyses of gene diversity excess at 15 unlinked microsatellite markers did not reveal any sign of a severe bottleneck to have occurred within approximately 1200 years' history of the Faroese population. The extensive LD in this population may, therefore, have arisen primarily by random genetic drift. The implications for future gene mapping studies are discussed.

AB - The isolated population of the Faroe Islands has a history of recent expansion after being limited to a small size for centuries. Such an isolated population may be ideal for linkage disequilibrium mapping of disease genes if linkage disequilibrium (LD) extends over large regions. Analyses of 18 markers on 12q24.3, spanning a region of 4.3 Mb (16 cM), revealed extensive LD in the Faroese population. Maximum LD was found between marker pairs separated by more than 3.8 Mb. The same region had a maximum LD of only 1.2 and 1.4 Mb respectively in two outbred Danish and British populations analysed here for comparison. The analyses of gene diversity excess at 15 unlinked microsatellite markers did not reveal any sign of a severe bottleneck to have occurred within approximately 1200 years' history of the Faroese population. The extensive LD in this population may, therefore, have arisen primarily by random genetic drift. The implications for future gene mapping studies are discussed.

U2 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejhg.5200816

DO - http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejhg.5200816

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1018-4813

VL - 10

SP - 381

EP - 387

JO - European Journal of Human Genetics

JF - European Journal of Human Genetics

IS - 6

ER -