The Werner syndrome gene and global sequence variation

mr, have identified a dense set of markers useful in association studies in volving the Werner syndrome (WRN) gene. The homozygotic disruption of the W RN gene is the cause of Werner disease. In addition, this gene is likely to be involved in many complex traits, such as aging, or at least some of the traits and diseases related to age. To investigate the genetic variation a ssociated with the WRN gene, a sample of 93 individuals representing all th e continents was analyzed by denaturing high-performance liquid chromatogra phy. A systematic survey of all 35 exons and flanking regions identified 58 single-nucleotide polymorphisms, 15 of which fall in the coding region and cause 11 missense mutations. The resulting global nucleotide diversity was 5.226 x 10(-4), with a slight difference between coding and noncoding regi ons. (C) 2001 Academic Press.