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A Possible Smoking Susceptibility Locus on Chromosome 11p12: Evidence from Sex-limitation Linkage Analyses in a Sample of Australian Twin Families

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Many twin studies have identified sex differences in the influence of genetic and environmental factors on smoking behaviors. We explore the evidence for sex differences for smoking initiation and cigarette consumption in a sample of Australian twin families, and extend these models to incorporate sex differences in linkage analyses for these traits. We further examine the impact of including or excluding non-smokers in genetic analyses of tobacco consumption. Accounting for sex differences improved linkage results in some instances. We identified one region suggestive of linkage on chromosome 11p12. This locus, as well as another region identified on chromosome 6p12, replicates regions identified in previous studies.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the twins and their families for their participation in the various studies. We acknowledge the funding sources that supported this project, and earlier studies that collected the genotype and phenotype data used: NIH grants (DA00272, DA12854, DA12540, CA75581, AA07535, and AA07728), Australian NH & NRC grants (971232 and 941177), Gemini Genomics, the former Sequana Therapeutics, the Mammalian Genotyping Service at the Center for Medical Genetics, and Leiden University Medical School. K.I.M. is supported by an Ian Scott Fellowship from the Australian Rotary Health Research Fund.

We also acknowledge the help and support provided by the many individuals at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research who worked on developing the combined dataset analyzed here: Anjali Henders and the blood processing team; Megan Campbell and the DNA processing team; Dixie Statham and the phenotype collection team; and Scott Gordon, Harry Beeby, David Smyth and Olivia Zheng for data integrity work. We would also thank Wayne D. Hall and Susan A. Treloar for helpful advice and comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Genetic Epidemiology, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, PO Royal Brisbane Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Katherine I Morley, Sarah E Medland, Manuel AR Ferreira, Michael T Lynskey, Grant W Montgomery & Nicholas G Martin

  2. Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Katherine I Morley

  3. Department of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Sarah E Medland

  4. Department of Psychiatry, Washington University St. Louis, St Louis, MO, USA

    Michael T Lynskey, Andrew C Heath & Pamela AF Madden

  5. Genetic Epidemiology, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, PO Royal Brisbane Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, 4029, Australia

    Katherine I Morley

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  1. Katherine I Morley
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Correspondence to Katherine I Morley.

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Morley, K.I., Medland, S.E., Ferreira, M.A. et al. A Possible Smoking Susceptibility Locus on Chromosome 11p12: Evidence from Sex-limitation Linkage Analyses in a Sample of Australian Twin Families. Behav Genet 36, 87–99 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-005-9004-0

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