Apparent ploidy effects on silencing are post-transcriptional at HML and telomeres in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The repression of genes in regions of heterochromatin is known as transcriptional silencing. It occurs in a wide range of organisms and can have importance in adaptation to the environment, developmental changes and disease. The model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been used for many years to study transcriptional silencing, but until recently no study has been made in relation to ploidy.

Intragenic deletion in the LARGE gene causes Walker-Warburg syndrome.

Intragenic homozygous deletions in the Large gene are associated with a severe neuromuscular phenotype in the myodystrophy (myd) mouse. These mutations result in a virtual lack of glycosylation of alpha-dystroglycan. Compound heterozygous LARGE mutations have been reported in a single human patient, manifesting with mild congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD) and severe mental retardation.