MAPPING OF THE DILUTE-OPISTHOTONOS (DOP) GENE ON CHROMOSOME-8 OF THE RAT

The rat dilute-opisthotonus (dop) autosomal recessive gene, causing at axia and coat color dilution, was mapped on chromosome 8 by PCR-amplif ied microsatellite markers. To facilitate the linkage analysis, an int ersubspecific cross with a Japanese wild rat strain was used. The reco mbination frequencies were 12.8% between Apoc3 and dop, and 32.1% betw een dop and Mylc1v. The following order of three genes is proposed; Ap oc3-dop-Mylc1v. This mutation appears to be homologous to dilute-letha l (d(l)) of the mouse in terms of clinical symptoms, coat color effect and chromosomal location of the gene loci.