A new locus for generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus maps to chromosome 2

Abstract

Generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+) is a recently recognized but relatively common form of inherited childhood-onset epilepsy with heterogeneous epilepsy phenotypes. We genotyped 41 family members, including 21 affected individuals, to localize the gene causing epilepsy in a large family segregating an autosomal dominant form of GEFS+. A genomewide search examining 197 markers identified linkage of GEFS+ to chromosome 2, on the basis of an initial positive LOD score for marker D2S294 (Z = 4.4, recombination fraction [θ] = 0). A total of 24 markers were tested on chromosome 2q, to define the smallest candidate region for GEFS+. The highest two-point LOD score (Z(max) = 5.2..