Complete linkage

[2] Genetic Linkage is the tendency of alleles, which are located closely together on a chromosome, to be inherited together during the process of meiosis in sexually reproducing organisms.

[4] (Click here for more information on Linkage Maps [1]) In diploid eukaryotic cells, recombination can occur during the process of Meiosis.

[5] (Click Here for a video tutorial explaining genetic recombination) One powerful tool for interpreting and graphing linkage data sets is called Hierarchical Clustering.

[6] The resulting diagram from a Hierarchical Cluster Analysis is called a dendrogram, in which data are nested into brackets of increasing dissimilarity.

[7] Again, under this type of analysis, a single resultant cluster signifies complete-linkage, since all data points are within the range of assigned similarity.

(Click Here for an interactive Hierarchical Clustering Demo) The idea of genetic linkage was first discovered by the British geneticists William Bateson, Edith Rebecca Saunders and Reginald Punnett.

[8] The unit of measurement describing the distance between two linked genes is the Centimorgan, and is named after Thomas Hunt Morgan.

Learning about linkage of traits in sugar cane has led to more productive and lucrative growth of the crop.

QTL analysis for sugarcane was used to construct a linkage map that identified gene clusters and important linked loci that can be used to predict the response to fungal infection in a specific line of sugar cane.

Chromosomes 4q21 and 7p are being considered strong candidate regions for panic and fear-associated anxiety disorder loci.

Knowing the specific location of these loci and their probability of being inherited together based on their linkage can offer insight into how these disorders are passed down, and why they often occur together in patients.