Linkage map and congenic strains to localize blood pressure QTL on rat chromosome 10

Our purposes were to develop a linkage map for rat Chromosome (Chr) 10, using chromosome-sorted DNA, and to construct congenic strains to localize blood pressure quantitative trait loci (QTL) on Chr 10 with the map. The linkage mapping panel consisted of three F2 populations totaling 418 rats. Thirty-two new and 29 known microsatellite markers were placed on the map, which spanned 88.9 centiMorgans (cM). The average distance between markers was 1.46 cM. No markers were separated by more than 6.8 cM. Four congenic strains were constructed by introgressing various segments of Chr 10 from the Milan normotensive strain (MNS) onto the background of the Dahl salt-sensitive (S) strain. A blood pressure QTL with a strong effect on blood pressure (35-42 mm Hg) when expressed on the S background was localized to a 31-cM region between D10Mco6 and D10Mcol. The region does not include the locus for inducible nitric oxide synthase (Nos2), which had been considered to be a candidate locus for the QTL.