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Incorrect use of the term synteny

Nature Genetics volume 23, page 387 (1999)Cite this article

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The term 'synteny' (or syntenic) refers to gene loci on the same chromosome regardless of whether or not they are genetically linked by classic linkage analysis1. This term was introduced in 1971 by John H. Renwick, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, at the 4th Internal Congress of Human Genetics in Paris with one of us (E.P.) in attendance. The need for such a term was suggested to J.H. Renwick by E.A. Murphy, of Johns Hopkins University2. It arose as a consequence of the new methods in gene mapping using somatic cell hybrid cells. Human genes located on the same chromosome with a genetic distance that could not be determined by the frequency of recombination lacked a term of reference.

'Synteny' means 'same thread' (or ribbon), a state of being together in location, as synchrony would be together in time. Although several textbooks3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 and other reference works11,12,13,14,15 give a correct definition, the term synteny nowadays is often used to refer to gene loci in different organisms located on a chromosomal region of common evolutionary ancestry. This new usage of the term synteny does not correspond to its original definition and correct language derivation. A survey of 11 articles in Nature Genetics since 1992 using the term syntenic or synteny in either the title or the abstract revealed usage incorrect in 8 and ambiguous in 3.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Humangenetik, Universitätsklinikum Essen, Essen, Germany

    Eberhard Passarge & Bernhard Horsthemke

  2. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

    Rosann A Farber

Authors
  1. Eberhard Passarge
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  2. Bernhard Horsthemke
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  3. Rosann A Farber
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Correspondence to Eberhard Passarge.

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Passarge, E., Horsthemke, B. & Farber, R. Incorrect use of the term synteny. Nat Genet 23, 387 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/70486

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