Radiation hybrid mapping of 70 rat genes from a data set of differentially expressed genes

The spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) is a model of human essential hypertension. Increased blood pressure in SHR is associated with other risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease, including insulin resistance and dyslipidemia. DNA microarray studies identified over 200 differentially expressed genes and ESTs between SHR and normotensive control rats. These clones represent candidate genes that may underlie previously detected QTLs in SHR. This study made use of the publication of two whole-genome maps to identify positional QTL candidates. Radiation hybrid (RH) mapping was used to determine the chromosomal locations of 70 rat genes and ESTs from this dataset. Most of the locations are novel, but in five cases we identified a definitive map location for genes previously mapped by somatic cell hybrids and/or linkage analysis. Genes for which the mouse genome map location was already determined mapped to syntenic segments in the rat genome map, except for two rat genes whose map locations confirmed previous findings. Where synteny comparisons could be made only with the human, 74% of the genes mapped in this study lay in a conserved syntenic segment. Chromosomal localisation of these mouse and human orthologs to syntenic segments produces a high level of confidence in the data presented in this study. The data provide new map locations for rat genes and will aid efforts to advance the rat genome map. The data may also be used to prioritize candidate QTL genes in SHR and other rat strains on the basis of their map location.