Incorrect use of the term synteny

The term 'synteny' (or syntenic) refers to gene loci on the same chromosome regardless of whether or not they are genetically linked by classic linkage analysis¹. This term was introduced in 1971 by John H. Renwick, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, at the 4^th Internal Congress of Human Genetics in Paris with one of us (E.P.) in attendance. The need for such a term was suggested to J.H. Renwick by E.A. Murphy, of Johns Hopkins University². It arose as a consequence of the new methods in gene mapping using somatic cell hybrid cells. Human genes located on the same chromosome with a genetic distance that could not be determined by the frequency of recombination lacked a term of reference.

'Synteny' means 'same thread' (or ribbon), a state of being together in location, as synchrony would be together in time. Although several textbooks^{3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10} and other reference works^{11,12,13,14,15} give a correct definition, the term synteny nowadays is often used to refer to gene loci in different organisms located on a chromosomal region of common evolutionary ancestry. This new usage of the term synteny does not correspond to its original definition and correct language derivation. A survey of 11 articles in Nature Genetics since 1992 using the term syntenic or synteny in either the title or the abstract revealed usage incorrect in 8 and ambiguous in 3.

We believe molecular biologists ought to respect the original definition of synteny and its etymological derivation, especially as this term is still needed to refer to genes located on the same chromosome. We recognize the need to refer to gene loci of common ancestry. Correct terms exist: 'paralogous' for genes that arose from a common ancestor gene within one species and 'orthologous' for the same gene in different species.