There were also noteworthy candidate genes among the variants that showed strong but as yet less conclusive levels of significance for association with height in our meta-analysis of GWA studies and replication cohorts. A SNP 28 kb upstream of PRKG2 (rs1662845), which encodes the cGMP-dependent protein kinase II (cGKII), showed strong association with height in our meta-analysis of GWA scans (P = 5.7 × 10-5), and in the same direction in the European American height panel (P = 8.5 × 10-6) and the FUSION stage 2 sample (P = 0.001), but not in the FINRISK97 (P = 0.93, opposite direction) and PPP (P = 0.16, opposite direction) panels. a This locus is very strong candidate for a role in height variation. First, Prkg2-/- mice developed dwarfism that is caused by a severe defect in endochondral ossification at the growth plates29. Second, the naturally occurring Komeda miniature rat Ishikawa mutant, which has general longitudinal growth retardation, results from a deletion in the rat gene encoding cGKII30. Therefore, in rodents, it is clear that cGKII has a role in skeletal growth, acting
