Extended Linkage Disequilibrium in Noncoding Regions in a Conifer, Cryptomeria japonica

We measured linkage disequilibrium in mostly noncoding regions of Cryptomeria japonica, a conifer belonging to Cupressaceae. Linkage disequilibrium was extensive and did not decay even at a distance of 100 kb. The average estimate of the population recombination rate per base pair was 1.55 x 10(-5) and was <1/70 of that in the coding regions. We discuss the impact of low recombination rates in a large part of the genome on association studies.