Estimating distances from the centromere by means of benign ovarian teratomas in man

Abstract

Assuming that benign ovarian teratomas in man arise parthenogenically from a germ cell by suppression of the 2nd meiotic division, the distance of a gene from its centromere can be estimated from the observed proportion of heterozygous teratomas collected from heterozygous hosts. The frequency of heterozygous teratomas of heterozygous hosts is equivalent to the frequency of 2nd division segregation at the gene locus which was used for centromere related mapping in fungal genetics for more than 40 yr. Mapping functions useful for teratoma based mapping in man are presented.