Linkage data between X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (XLRP) and nine X-chromosomal markers are reported. To test the assignment of XLRP to the Xp21 region (as considered at Human Gene Mapping 8), an analysis of XLRP and six markers flanking this region was undertaken. The XLRP locus was found to be excluded from the chromosome distal to ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) (P = 6.5 X 10(-5]. Further data were accumulated with three more probes proximal to DXS7 (L1.28), the closest linked probe. Multipoint analysis of these data suggests a posterior probability of .94 that XLRP is proximal to DXS7 (L1.28), which has been mapped to the region Xp11.3.