THE TER PRIMORDIAL GERM-CELL DEFICIENCY MUTATION MAPS NEAR GRL-1 ON MOUSE CHROMOSOME-18

A single recessive gene, ter (teratoma), causes germ cell deficiency and a high incidence of congenital testicular teratomas in the 129/Sv-ter strain of the mouse. Linkage analyses between the ter gene and 36 marker genes of 19 chromosomes were performed with matings between the C57BL/6J-ter congenic strain and four inbred strains. Results showed that the ter gene was linked to D18Mit9, D18Mit14, and D18Mit17 on Chromosome (Chr) 18. Gene order estimated on the basis of recombination distance (in centimorgans) was [centromere-D18Mit14-5.1 (cM)-ter-0 (cM)-D18Mit17-23.8 (cM)-D18Mit9]. D18Mit17 is the microsatellite DNA of the Grl-1 (glucocorticoid receptor-1) locus. We conclude that the ter gene is closely linked to Grl-1 on Chr 18 and is a new mutation involving the developmental modification of primordial germ cells in mice.