A genome‐wide association study for reading and language abilities in two population cohorts

<jats:p><jats:bold>Candidate genes have been identified for both reading and language, but most of the heritable variance in these traits remains unexplained. Here, we report a genome‐wide association meta‐analysis of two large cohorts: population samples of Australian twins and siblings aged 12–25 years (<jats:italic>n</jats:italic> = 1177 from 538 families), and a younger cohort of children of the <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">UK</jats:styled-content> Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and their Children (aged 8 and 9 years; maximum <jats:italic>n</jats:italic> = 5472). Suggestive association was indicated for reading measures and non‐word repetition (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">NWR</jats:styled-content>), with the greatest support found for single nucleotide polymorphisms (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">SNPs</jats:styled-content>) in the pseudogene, <jats:italic><jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ABCC13</jats:styled-content></jats:italic> (<jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = 7.34 × 10<jats:sup>−8</jats:sup>), and the gene, <jats:italic><jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">DAZAP1</jats:styled-content></jats:italic> (<jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = 1.32 × 10<jats:sup>−6</jats:sup>). Gene‐based analyses showed significant association (<jats:italic>P</jats:italic> < 2.8 × 10<jats:sup>−6</jats:sup>) for reading and spelling with genes <jats:italic><jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CD2L1</jats:styled-content></jats:italic>, <jats:italic><jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CDC2L2</jats:styled-content></jats:italic> and <jats:italic><jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">RCAN3</jats:styled-content></jats:italic> in two loci on chromosome 1. Some support was found for the same <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">SNPs</jats:styled-content> having effects on both reading skill and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">NWR</jats:styled-content>, which is compatible with behavior genetic evidence for influences of reading acquisition on phonological‐task performance. The results implicate novel candidates for study in additional cohorts for reading and language abilities.</jats:bold></jats:p>