A recurrent 16p12.1 microdeletion suggests a two-hit model for severe developmental delay

We report the identification of a recurrent 520-kbp 16p12.1 microdeletion significantly associated with childhood developmental delay. The microdeletion was detected in 20/11,873 cases vs. 2/8,540 controls ( p =0.0009, OR=7.2) and replicated in a second series of 22/9,254 cases vs. 6/6,299 controls ( p =0.028, OR=2.5). Most deletions were inherited with carrier parents likely to manifest neuropsychiatric phenotypes ( p =0.037, OR=6). Probands were more likely to carry an additional large CNV when compared to matched controls (10/42 cases, p =5.7×10 -5 , OR=6.65). Clinical features of cases with two mutations were distinct from and/or more severe than clinical features of patients carrying only the co-occurring mutation. Our data suggest a two-hit model in which the 16p12.1 microdeletion both predisposes to neuropsychiatric phenotypes as a single event and exacerbates neurodevelopmental phenotypes in association with other large deletions or duplications. Analysis of other microdeletions with variable expressivity suggests that this two-hit model may be more generally applicable to neuropsychiatric disease.