RT Journal
A1 Hall, Diana
A1 Wijsman, Ellen M.
A1 Roos, J. Louw
A1 Gogos, Joseph A.
A1 Karayiorgou, Maria
T1 Extended Intermarker Linkage Disequilibrium in the Afrikaners
JF Genome Research 
JO Genome Research 
YR 2002 
FD June 01 
VO 12 
IS 6 
SP 956 
OP 961 
DO 10.1101/gr.136202 
UL http://genome.cshlp.org/content/12/6/956.abstract 
AB In this study we conducted an investigation of the background level of linkage disequilibrium (LD) in the Afrikaner population to evaluate the appropriateness of this genetic isolate for mapping complex traits. We analyzed intermarker LD in 62 nuclear families using microsatellite markers covering extended chromosomal regions. The markers were selected to allow the first direct comparison of long-range LD in the Afrikaners to LD in other demographic groups. Using several statistical measures, we find significant evidence for LD in the Afrikaners extending remarkably over a 6-cM range. In contrast, LD decays significantly beyond 3-cM distances in the other founder and outbred populations examined. This study strongly supports the appropriateness of the Afrikaner population for genome-wide scans that exploit LD to map common, multigenic disorders.