Genotypic selection provides experimental confirmation for an alcohol consumption quantitative trait locus in mouse.

Quantitative genetic research has produced a wealth of basic information concerning genetic influence on alcohol-related processes. Recent developments in quantitative trait locus (QTL) methodology were promptly applied to the task of individuating polygenes affecting alcohol-related attributes in animal models and a body of reliable data is gradually coming into focus as a result of replication and convergence of evidence from a variety of methods. A key issue in QTL research is the need to distinguish true positive results from the false positive results that are inherent in analytical procedures requiring large numbers of significance tests. One school of thought holds that stringent significance levels should be imposed; another suggests more modest criteria for QTL nomination, with subsequent confirmation trials with independent samples. Recombinant inbred strains and various types of intercrosses have been used in correlational designs, both for nomination and confirmation studies. Alternative experimental procedures include knockout preparations and short-term phenotypic selective breeding. We present here results from a third experimental method-that of marker-based genotypic selection--in evaluation of two nominated QTLs for alcohol acceptance in mice.