Fine mapping of the region including hypogonadism (hgn) locus on rat chromosome 10

The hypogonadic rat (hgn/hgn) shows male sterility, reduced female fertility, and renal hypoplasia, controlled by a single recessive gene located on rat chromosome 10. We developed a fine map around the hgn locus using 565 rat backcross progeny and a Rat/Hamster radiation hybrid panel. The hgn locus was linked to Aldoc (aldolase c) and whn (winged helix of nude), and located in a 0.34-cM region between D10Rat30 and D10Rat68. The distance of the region was approximately 840-kb on rat physical map. Neither loci responsible for male sterility nor renal hypoplasia has been mapped on the homologous regions of mouse chromosome 11 and human chromosome 17. Identification of the gene responsible for the hgn mutation would provide important information on urogenital development.