The trans-population meta-analysis added two novel GWS loci, i.e., six in the meta-analysis, vs. only four in the European-only analysis (and one, overlapping with an EUR-associated region, GWS in AFR taken individually, albeit with a different SNP). These were FGF14 - Fibroblast Growth Factor 14 – at p=9.86×10−09: a gene implicated in inherited cerebellar ataxias (52), among other traits, which regulates KCNQ2/3 potassium channels (53); and an uncharacterized RNA gene locus, LOC105376602 (at p=4.63×10−08). FGF14 is particularly relevant because KLB, a locus previously identified as associated to alcohol consumption (4, 6, 8, 54) and replicated in MVP (min p=5.54×10−6), is a receptor that acts as a targeting signal for several FGF genes (55), suggesting the strong possibility of wider involvement of the FGF family in predisposition to alcohol consumption.
