New DNA markers in the Huntington's disease gene candidate region

The search for the Huntington's disease (HD) gene has prompted construction of a complete long-range restriction map of a 2.5-Mb candidate region, distal to the DNA marker D4S10. To facilitate the procurement of cloned DNA from this candidate region, we have augmented the existing regional mapping panel of somatic cell hybrids with hybrid HHW1071 containing a t(4p16;12) chromosome from a patient with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome. This translocation maps between D4S180 and D4S127, subdividing the HD candidate region and setting a proximal limit to the Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome region. Using the expanded mapping panel, we have regionally assigned 14 independently cloned cosmids, five proximal to the t(4;12) breakpoint in the same region as D4S10 and nine distal to the breakpoint. By a combination of overlap with previously mapped cosmids and pulsed-field gel analysis, each of these cosmids has been positioned on the long-range restriction map of 4p16.3, increasing the clone coverage of the candidate region to approximately 40%. Single-copy probes from mapped cosmids were used to identify eight new DNA polymorphisms spanning the HD candidate region. These new DNA markers should prove valuable for analysis of recombination and linkage disequilibrium in HD, as well as for preclinical diagnosis of the disorder.