GENETIC-MARKERS LINKED TO NEURONAL CEROID-LIPOFUSCINOSIS IN ENGLISH-SETTER DOGS

The neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCL) are a group of fatal autosoma l recessive neurodegenerative diseases occurring in human and some dom esticated animal species, A canine form of the disease (CNCL) has been extensively studied in a Norwegian colony of inbred English setters s ince 1960. A resource family developed for genetic mapping and compris ing 170 individuals was typed for 103 genetic markers. Linkage analysi s showed three genetic markers to be linked to the disease locus with the closest marker at a distance of about 3 CM. Two other loci were li nked with these markers making a linkage group of five genetic markers . The linkage group spanned a distance of 54 VM. Two genes for human f orms of the disease, CLN2 and CLN3, have been identified and mapped to human chromosome 11p15 and 16p12, respectively. The present study did not indicate any linkage between CNCL and the canine CLN3 homologue o r to homologues of markers for genes that map close to human CLN2.