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Nature Genetics 39, 319–328 (1 March 2007) | doi:10.1038/ng1985

Mapping autism risk loci using genetic linkage and chromosomal rearrangements

Peter Szatmari , Andrew D Paterson , Lonnie Zwaigenbaum , Wendy Roberts , Jessica Brian , Xiao-Qing Liu , John B Vincent , Jennifer L Skaug , Ann P Thompson , Lili Senman , Lars Feuk , Cheng Qian , Susan E Bryson , Marshall B Jones , Christian R Marshall , Stephen W Scherer , Veronica J Vieland , Christopher Bartlett , La Vonne Mangin , Rhinda Goedken , Alberto Segre , Margaret A Pericak-Vance , Michael L Cuccaro , John R Gilbert , Harry H Wright , Ruth K Abramson , Catalina Betancur , Thomas Bourgeron , Christopher Gillberg , Marion Leboyer , Joseph D Buxbaum , Kenneth L Davis , Eric Hollander , Jeremy M Silverman , Joachim Hallmayer , Linda Lotspeich , James S Sutcliffe , Jonathan L Haines , Susan E Folstein , Joseph Piven , Thomas H Wassink , Val Sheffield , Daniel H Geschwind , Maja Bucan , W Ted Brown , Rita M Cantor , John N Constantino , T Conrad Gilliam , Martha Herbert , Clara LaJonchere , David H Ledbetter , Christa Lese-Martin , Janet Miller , Stan Nelson , Carol A Samango-Sprouse , Sarah Spence , Matthew State , Rudolph E Tanzi , Hilary Coon , Geraldine Dawson , Bernie Devlin , Annette Estes , Pamela Flodman , Lambertus Klei , William M McMahon , Nancy Minshew , Jeff Munson , Elena Korvatska , Patricia M Rodier , Gerard D Schellenberg , Moyra Smith , M Anne Spence , Chris Stodgell , Ping Guo Tepper , Ellen M Wijsman , Chang-En Yu , Bernadette Rog|[eacute]| , Carine Mantoulan , Kerstin Wittemeyer , Annemarie Poustka , B|[auml]|rbel Felder , Sabine M Klauck , Claudia Schuster , Fritz Poustka , Sven B|[ouml]|lte , Sabine Feineis-Matthews , Evelyn Herbrecht , Gabi Schm|[ouml]|tzer , John Tsiantis , Katerina Papanikolaou , Elena Maestrini , Elena Bacchelli , Francesca Blasi , Simona Carone , Claudio Toma , Herman Van Engeland , Maretha de Jonge , Chantal Kemner , Frederike Koop , Marjolijn Langemeijer , Channa Hijimans , Wouter G Staal , Gillian Baird , Patrick F Bolton , Michael L Rutter , Emma Weisblatt , Jonathan Green , Catherine Aldred , Julie-Anne Wilkinson , Andrew Pickles , Ann Le Couteur , Tom Berney , Helen McConachie , Anthony J Bailey , Kostas Francis , Gemma Honeyman , Aislinn Hutchinson , Jeremy R Parr , Simon Wallace , Anthony P Monaco , Gabrielle Barnby , Kazuhiro Kobayashi , Janine A Lamb , Ines Sousa , Nuala Sykes , Edwin H Cook , Stephen J Guter , Bennett L Leventhal , Jeff Salt , Catherine Lord , Christina Corsello , Vanessa Hus , Daniel E Weeks , Fred Volkmar , Ma|[iuml]|t|[eacute]| Tauber , Eric Fombonne & Andy Shih

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are common, heritable neurodevelopmental conditions. The genetic architecture of ASDs is complex, requiring large samples to overcome heterogeneity. Here we broaden coverage and sample size relative to other studies of ASDs by using Affymetrix 10K SNP arrays and 1,168 families with at least two affected individuals, performing the largest linkage scan to date while also analyzing copy number variation in these families. Linkage and copy number variation analyses implicate chromosome 11p12–p13 and neurexins, respectively, among other candidate loci. Neurexins team with previously implicated neuroligins for glutamatergic synaptogenesis, highlighting glutamate-related genes as promising candidates for contributing to ASDs.