LINKAGE DISEQUILIBRIUM STUDIES IN THE THYROID PEROXIDASE AND APOLIPOPROTEIN-B GENES

Linkage disequilibria in the apolipoprotein B (APOB) gene (EcoRI RFLP/ 3' APOB VNTR) and in the thyroid peroxidase (TPO) gene (AcyI RFLP/TPO VNTR) were investigated in a sample of 100 individuals from southern I taly, By recoding multiallelic data as diallelic data, each RFLP-VNTR system showed linkage disequilibrium significantly different from zero (EcoRI RFLP/3' APOB VNTR: p < 0.001; AcyI RFLP/TPO VNTR: p < 0.025), thus suggesting that the VNTR arrays are stable. Furthermore, the rela tionship between the 3' APOB (2p24-p23) and TPO (2pter-p24) VNTR multi allelic systems was also analyzed, The two VNTR polymorphisms were fou nd to be in linkage equilibrium, thus indicating that they can be used together in forensic casework.