Genome sequence of an Australian kangaroo, Macropus eugenii, provides insight into the evolution of mammalian reproduction and development.

Background: We present the genome sequence of the tammar wallaby, Macropus eugenii, which is a member of the kangaroo family and the first representative of the iconic hopping mammals that symbolize Australia to be sequenced. The tammar has many unusual biological characteristics, including the longest period of embryonic diapause of any mammal, extremely synchronized seasonal breeding and prolonged and sophisticated lactation within a well-defined pouch. Like other marsupials, it gives birth to highly altricial young, and has a small number of very large chromosomes, making it a valuable model for genomics, reproduction and development.

A duplication at chromosome 11q12.2-11q12.3 is associated with spinocerebellar ataxia type 20.

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 20 (SCA20) has been linked to chromosome 11q12, but the underlying genetic defect has yet to be identified. We applied single-nucleotide polymorphism genotyping to detect structural alterations in the genomic DNA of patients with SCA20. We found a 260 kb duplication within the previously linked SCA20 region, which was confirmed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction and fiber fluorescence in situ hybridization, the latter also showing its direct orientation.

SNP selection for genes of iron metabolism in a study of genetic modifiers of hemochromatosis.

Background: We report our experience of selecting tag SNPs in 35 genes involved in iron metabolism in a cohort study seeking to discover genetic modifiers of hereditary hemochromatosis.

Methods: We combined our own and publicly available resequencing data with HapMap to maximise our coverage to select 384 SNPs in candidate genes suitable for typing on the Illumina platform.

Results: Validation/design scores above 0.

Deletion at ITPR1 underlies ataxia in mice and spinocerebellar ataxia 15 in humans.

We observed a severe autosomal recessive movement disorder in mice used within our laboratory. We pursued a series of experiments to define the genetic lesion underlying this disorder and to identify a cognate disease in humans with mutation at the same locus. Through linkage and sequence analysis we show here that this disorder is caused by a homozygous in-frame 18-bp deletion in Itpr1 (Itpr1(Delta18/Delta18)), encoding inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate receptor 1.

Whole genome SNP arrays using DNA derived from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded ovarian tumor tissue.

Array-based genotyping platforms, such as the Affymetrix mapping array, have been validated as reliable methods for obtaining high-resolution copy number and allele status information when using DNA derived from fresh tissue sources. However, the suitability of such systems for the examination of DNA derived from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues has not been tested. Therefore, we analyzed DNA derived from five matching fresh frozen and FFPE ovarian tumors for gene copy number changes and loss of heterozygosity using the Affymetrix GeneChip Human Mapping 10 K Array Xba 131.

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 20.

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 20 (SCA20) was reported in 2004 in a single Australian Anglo-Celtic pedigree. The phenotype is distinctive, with palatal tremor, and hypermetric saccades, and early dentate (but not pallidal) calcification in the absence of abnormalities of calcium metabolism. Dysarthria, rather than gait ataxia, was the initial symptom in most, and was typically conjoined with dysphonia, clinically resembling adductor spasmodic dysphonia.

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 15.

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 15 (SCA15) was first reported in 2001 on the basis of a single large Anglo-Celtic family from Australia, the locus mapping to chromosomal region 3p24.2-3pter. The characteristic clinical feature was of very slow progression, with two affected individuals remaining ambulant without aids after over 50 years of symptoms.

A gene for pili annulati maps to the telomeric region of chromosome 12q.

Pili annulati (PA) is a rare hair shaft disorder characterized by discrete banding of hairs. We studied two families with PA in which the disorder segregated in an autosomal dominant fashion. All family members were clinically examined and hair samples were examined under the light microscope.

Dominantly inherited ataxia and dysphonia with dentate calcification: spinocerebellar ataxia type 20.

We describe a pedigree of Anglo-Celtic origin with a phenotypically unique form of dominantly inherited spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) in 14 personally examined affected members. A remarkable observation is dentate nucleus calcification, producing a low signal on MRI sequences. Unusually for an SCA, dysarthria is typically the initial manifestation.

Association between dependent smoking and a polymorphism in the tyrosine hydroxylase gene in a prospective population-based study of adolescent health.

This study reports pilot data on an association between tobacco dependence and a five-allele tetranucleotide repeat polymorphism in the first intron of the tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) gene. One hundred and twenty-six Australian adolescents who had participated in the Health in Transition Study (1993-1997), and who showed patterns of either dependent or nondependent smoking across four waves of data collection, consented to participation in the pilot study. The smoking status of those recruited was confirmed using a telephone-administered drug use questionnaire during 2000.

Parametric and nonparametric genome scan analyses for human handedness.

We have performed a genome scan using 25 nuclear families consisting of right-handed parents with at least two left-handed children. Handedness was assessed as a qualitative trait using a laterality quotient. Laterality quotients indicate the direction of handedness, which is hand preference for performing unimanual tasks.

Progressive patterned scalp hypotrichosis, with wiry hair, onycholysis, and intermittently associated cleft lip and palate: clinical and genetic distinction from Marie Unna.

Marie Unna hereditary hypotrichosis has been described in over a dozen families since 1924. Features include scant or no eyebrows at birth, the development of firm wiry hair in the first few years of life followed by a progressive patterned scalp alopecia in the second or third decade. This is associated with generalized hypotrichosis of the body and the condition is nonsyndromic.

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 15 (sca15) maps to 3p24.2-3pter: exclusion of the ITPR1 gene, the human orthologue of an ataxic mouse mutant.

We have studied a large Australian kindred with a dominantly inherited pure cerebellar ataxia, SCA15. The disease is characterised by a very slow rate of progression in some family members, and atrophy predominantly of the superior vermis, and to a lesser extent the cerebellar hemispheres. Repeat expansion detection failed to identify either a CAG/CTG or ATTCT/AGAAT repeat expansions segregating with the disease in this family.

Parametric and non-parametric linkage analysis of several candidate regions for genes for human handedness.

The frequency of left-handedness in the general population is around 11%. Both environmental and genetic models have been proposed to explain the aetiology of human handedness. The majority of genetic models, such as those of Annett, McManus and Klar, propose a single gene determinant with a non-Mendelian inheritance pattern.

Identity-by-descent approach to gene localisation in eight individuals affected by keratoconus from north-west Tasmania, Australia.

The minimum physical distance surrounding a candidate gene has been determined in founder populations by studying allele sharing and then mapping historical recombination events. In this study, we developed a novel minimalistic approach by using the genetically isolated population of Tasmania, Australia, to identify candidate gene loci in a small number of individuals of unknown genetic relationship affected by a dominant disorder. Keratoconus, an inheritable non-inflammatory progressive degeneration of the cornea, is present at a five-fold increased incidence in Burnie, a coastal town on the island of Tasmania.

Increased gene dosage at Xq26-q27 is associated with X-linked hypopituitarism.

We have identified a novel interstitial duplication at Xq26.1-q27.3 in a previously reported family with X-linked recessive hypopituitarism [1].

A Novel mutation in the FSH receptor inhibiting signal transduction and causing primary ovarian failure.

Inactivating mutations of the FSH receptor (FSHR) are known to cause ovarian failure with amenorrhea and infertility in women. The first mutation identified in the FSHR gene was a missense mutation (566C-->T, predicting Ala189Val transition) found in several Finnish patients with primary amenorrhea due to ovarian failure. Only five additional, partially or totally inactivating, mutations of the FSHR have been reported.