TESTING LINKAGE EQUILIBRIUM ON ALLELIC DATA BETWEEN VNTR LOCI

We extend Geisser and Johnson's methods and propose simple tests for l inkage equilibrium of fragment lengths between VNTR loci. The tests ar e shown to have asymptotically normal or chi-square null distributions . They are applied to the reference databases of Asian populations, in cluding the Hong Kong Chinese, Singapore Chinese, Singapore Malays, an d Singapore Indians. It seems that there is little linkage disequilibr ium in the data.