Background Many quantitative trait loci (QTL) influencing mouse model phenotypes for alcoholism have been mapped genetically. However, the gene(s) comprising the QTL (QTG) are largely unknown. In previous work, Bennett and colleagues created congenic strains carrying the DBA/2IBG (D2) region for alcohol preference (AP) on chromosome 2, on a C57BL/6IBG (B6) background [1]. Subsequently, interval specific congenic recombinant strains (ISCRS), in which the full D2 QTL region was broken into smaller, partially overlapping regions of introgression, were generated and tested. With information from two ISCRS, the QTL has been mapped onto mouse chromosome 2 (Chr2) in a region of 3.4Mb by using C57BL/6J (B6) x DBA/2J (D2) recombinant inbred (RI) strains as well as by using F2 populations. Several candidate genes, Gad1, Atp5g3, Atf2, Sp3 and Sp9, have been evaluated but none of them has been confirmed for a definitive role in the regulation of the QTL of AP on Chr2 [2,3].