SUGGESTIVE LINKAGE BETWEEN MARKERS ON CHROMOSOME 19Q13.2 AND NONSYNDROMIC OROFACIAL CLEFT MALFORMATION

Nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (OFC) is a common birth defect that has genetic bases. The nature of the genetic contrib ution is still to be clarified; however, some chromosome regions and c andidate genes have been proposed for this malformation. We examined l inkage between BCL3, a proto-oncogene located in 19q13.2, and OFC in a sample composed of 40 multiplex pedigrees using both nonparametric an d parametric methods. The affected pedigree member statistics and the transmission disequilibrium test supported a role for BCL3 ire causing OFC, while no evidence of linkage or genetic heterogeneity was found with the lod score method. (C) 1998 Academic Press.