Rat obesity gene fatty (fa) maps to chromosome 5: evidence for homology with the mouse gene diabetes (db).

The autosomal recessive mutations fa (rat) and db (mouse) cause obesity syndromes that develop early and ultimately become severe. Although both fa/fa rats and db/db mice have been studied extensively as models of human obesity and diabetes, the molecular bases of these phenotypes remain unknown. We have mapped fa in 50 fa/fa (obese) offspring of a (13M x Brown Norway) F1 fa/+ intercross relative to two molecular markers, Ifa and Glut-1, which flank db on mouse chromosome 4 and which are located on rat chromosome 5. Ifa and Glut-1 are linked to fa, with a gene order, Ifa-fa-Glut-1, that is identical to that for the region around db in the mouse genome. These results place fa on rat chromosome 5 and suggest that db and fa are mutations in homologous genes.