1. Survey of the fragile X syndrome and the fragile X E syndrome in a special education needs population.
- Author
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Meadows KL, Pettay D, Newman J, Hersey J, Ashley AE, and Sherman SL
- Subjects
- Black or African American, Alleles, Black People, Child, Female, Georgia, Health Services Needs and Demand, Humans, Incidence, Male, Polymerase Chain Reaction, White People, X Chromosome, Chromosome Fragility, Education, Special, Fragile X Syndrome epidemiology, Fragile X Syndrome genetics, Intellectual Disability epidemiology, Intellectual Disability genetics, Sex Chromosome Aberrations epidemiology, Sex Chromosome Aberrations genetics
- Abstract
To begin to understand the population dynamics of the fragile X (FRAXA) mutation and to learn more about the fragile X E (FRAXE) syndrome, we have initiated a surve of children in special needs education programs in the public school system. With respect to the FRAXA syndrome, we found approximately 1/1,000 full mutations among males. No large alleles at the FRAXE locus were observed among 462 individuals. The allele distributions at the two loci among Caucasians and among African Americans were examined as well as the level of heterozygosity. We found a significant difference in the FRAXA allele distribution among the two ethnic groups; the major difference was due to the lack of smaller alleles among the African Americans. No difference was found for the FRAXE allele distribution among the two groups. The level of heterozygosity was less than predicted by the allele distribution at both loci. This is probably due to unidentified large alleles among females with a test result of a single band. Alternatively, this excess may indicate that the population is not at equilibrium.
- Published
- 1996
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