All 3 genes within Alc 11 (Dctd, Sc4mol, Scrg1; Table 1) were also common in the differences between alcohol- naïve P vs. NP rats (Table 5). Dctd (cCMP [deoxycytidine-5′-monophosphate] deaminase) provides the main nucleotide substrate for thymidylate synthase, which is important for DNA synthesis (Hou et al., 2008). Sc4mol (sterol-C4-methyl oxidase-like) is involved in cholesterol synthesis (He et al., 2011) and the growth and guidance of axons (Yu et al., 2008). Scrg1 (stimulator of chondrogenesis 1) encodes a highly conserved cysteine-rich protein, is principally expressed in the CNS and is associated with large dense-core vesicles in neurons (Dandoy-Dron et al., 2003). Overall, the findings may point to segments of QTLs Alc11 and Alc18 being important for containing genes involved in vulnerability to alcohol abuse and contributing to the maintenance of high alcohol intake.
