Sequence-tagged sites (STSs) spanning 4p16.3 and the Huntington disease candidate region

The generation of sequence-tagged sites (STSs) has been proposed as a unifying approach to correlating the disparate results generated by genetic and various physical techniques being used to map the human genome. We have developed an STS map to complement the existing physical and genetic maps of 4p16.3, the region containing the Huntington disease gene. A total of 18 STSs span over 4 Mb of 4p16.3, with an average spacing of about 250 kb. Eleven of the STSs are located within the primary candidate HD region of 2.5 Mb between D4S126 and D4S168. The availability of STSs makes the corresponding loci accessible to the general community without the need for distribution of cloned DNA. These STSs should also provide the means to isolate yeast artificial chromosome clones spanning the HD candidate region.