Microsatellites versus single-nucleotide polymorphisms in linkage analysis for quantitative and qualitative measures.

The linkage results were stronger overall for SNPs than for microsatellites for both phenotypes. However, LOD scores may be artificially elevated in regions of high LD. Our analysis indicates that appropriately thinning a SNP map in regions of high LD should give more accurate LOD scores. These results suggest that SNPs can be an efficient substitute for microsatellites for linkage analysis of both quantitative and qualitative phenotypes.