Experiment
Several alcohol preference QTL (Ap1q, Ap2q, Ap3q, Ap4q, Ap5q, Ap6q) were mapped in a previous study by Tarantino et al, 1998 (J:49707). Parental strain C57BL/6J exhibits higher alcohol preference compared to parental strain DBA/2J. In this study, genotype data from the (C57BL/6J x DBA/2J)F2 intercross population was reanalyzed for epistatic interactions. Significant interaction was detected between markers mapping to the Ap2q interval on mouse Chromosome 2 and the Ap6q interval on mouse Chromosome 3. Markers D2Mit61 (34 cM) and D3Mit12 (49.2 cM) and markers D2Mit94 (48.1 cM) and D3Mit12 (49.2 cM) show the greatest evidence for epistatic interaction (P=0.0015 and P=0.0006, respectively). It appears Ap6q is epistatic to Ap2q. When Ap6q is homozygous for DBA/2J-derived alleles the genotype at Ap2q has little effect on the phenotype. But homozygosity for C57BL/6J-derived alleles at both Ap2q and Ap6q confers the greatest increase in alcohol preference.
Analysis Tools