Deletions within the pseudoautosomal region help map three new markers and indicate a possible role of this region in linear growth.

Short stature is consistently found in individuals with terminal deletions of Xp. In order to refine the localization of a putative locus affecting height, we analyzed two patients with a partial monosomy of the pseudoautosomal region at the molecular level. Eight pseudoautosomal probes were used for the genetic deletion analysis through dose evaluation. Three of them represent new markers (DXS415, DXS419, and DXS406) which were positioned on the pseudoautosomal map by pulsed field gel electrophoresis. Our data suggest that a locus affecting height maps in a region of about 1.5 Mbp, distal to the DXS406 locus and proximal to the DXS415 locus, a region which includes two CpG islands, and rule out an involvement of very distal sequences at the X/Y telomeres.