High-resolution mapping of ribosomal protein genes to human chromosome 19

In a systematic effort for mapping of all the human ribosomal protein (rp) genes, we have found that an unusually large number (12) of rp genes are present on chromosome 19 and subsequently determined their locations on the chromosome by a radiation-hybrid procedure. For this, we isolated cosmid clones corresponding to each gene and placed nine of them on a metric physical map of chromosome 19. Although most genes are scattered over the chromosome, we found three genes are clustered in a 0.6-Mb region at 19q13.3 and two of them, RPL13A and RPS11, within a single cosmid only 4.3 kb apart. To explore a possible relationship between rp gene defects and human disease, we compared map positions of the rp genes and disease loci on chromosome 19, which led us to find RPS9 gene in the same interval as the gene for retinitis pigmentosa 11. The disease locus has previously been mapped to the 6-cM interval at 19q13.4 between markers D19S572 and D19S926, which corresponds to less than 2-Mb region on the metric physical map. We mapped RPS9 about 800 kb distal to D19S572.