Anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (ED1) is characterized by hypotrichosis, reduced number of sweat glands, and incisior anodontia in human, mouse, and cattle. In affected humans and mice, mutations in the ED1 gene coding for ectodysplasin 1 are found. Ectodysplasin 1 is a novel trimeric transmembrane protein with an extracellular TNF-like signaling domain that is believed to be involved in the formation of hair follicles and tooth buds during fetal development. We report the construction of a 480-kb BAC contig harboring the complete bovine ED1 gene on BTA Xq22-Xq24. Physical mapping and sequence analysis of the coding parts of the ED1 gene revealed that a large genomic region including exon 3 of the ED1 gene is deleted in cattle with anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia in a family of German Holstein cattle with three affected maternal half sibs.