Bayesian oligogenic analysis of quantitative and qualitative traits in general pedigrees.

A Bayesian method for multipoint oligogenic analysis of quantitative and qualitative traits is presented. This method can be applied to general pedigrees, which do not necessarily have to be "peelable" and can have large numbers of markers. The number of quantitative/qualitative trait loci (QTL), their map positions in the genome, and phenotypic effects (mode of inheritances) are all estimated simultaneously within the same framework. The summaries of the estimated parameters are based on the marginal posterior distributions that are obtained through Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. The method uses founder alleles together with segregation indicators in order to determine the genotypes of the trait loci of all individuals in the pedigree. To improve mixing properties of the sampler, we propose (1) joint sampling of map position and segregation indicators, (2) omitting data augmentation for untyped or uninformative markers (homozygous parent), and (3) updating several markers jointly within a single block. The performance of the method was tested with two replicate GAW10 data sets (considering two levels of available marker information). The results were concordant and similar to those presented earlier with other methods. These analyses clearly illustrate the utility and wide applicability of the method.

Uimari P ，Sillanpää MJ 《GENETIC EPIDEMIOLOGY》

Bayesian analysis of multilocus association in quantitative and qualitative traits.

A Bayesian model-based method for multilocus association analysis of quantitative and qualitative (binary) traits is presented. The method selects a trait-associated subset of markers among candidates, and is equally applicable for analyzing wide chromosomal segments (genome scans) and small candidate regions. The method can be applied in situations involving missing genotype data. The number of trait loci, their marker positions, and the magnitudes of their gene effects (strengths of association) are all estimated simultaneously. The inference of parameters is based on their posterior distributions, which are obtained through Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations. The strengths of the approach are: 1) flexible use of oligogenic models with unknown number of loci, 2) performing the estimation of association jointly with model selection, and 3) avoidance of the multiple testing problem, which typically complicates the approaches based on association testing. The performance of the method was tested and compared to the multilocus conditional search procedure by analyzing two simulated data sets. We also applied the method to cystic fibrosis haplotype data (two-locus haplotypes), where gene position has already been identified. The method is implemented as a software package, which is freely available for research purposes under the name BAMA.

Kilpikari R ，Sillanpää MJ 《GENETIC EPIDEMIOLOGY》

MCMC-based linkage analysis for complex traits on general pedigrees: multipoint analysis with a two-locus model and a polygenic component.

Sung YJ ，Thompson EA ，Wijsman EM 《GENETIC EPIDEMIOLOGY》

Empirical significance values for linkage analysis: trait simulation using posterior model distributions from MCMC oligogenic segregation analysis.

Igo RP Jr ，Wijsman EM 《GENETIC EPIDEMIOLOGY》

Ascertainment correction for Markov chain Monte Carlo segregation and linkage analysis of a quantitative trait.

Although extended pedigrees are often sampled through probands with extreme levels of a quantitative trait, Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods for segregation and linkage analysis have not been able to perform ascertainment corrections. Further, the extent to which ascertainment of pedigrees leads to biases in the estimation of segregation and linkage parameters has not been previously studied for MCMC procedures. In this paper, we studied these issues with a Bayesian MCMC approach for joint segregation and linkage analysis, as implemented in the package Loki. We first simulated pedigrees ascertained through individuals with extreme values of a quantitative trait in spirit of the sequential sampling theory of Cannings and Thompson [Cannings and Thompson [1977] Clin. Genet. 12:208-212]. Using our simulated data, we detected no bias in estimates of the trait locus location. However, in addition to allele frequencies, when the ascertainment threshold was higher than or close to the true value of the highest genotypic mean, bias was also found in the estimation of this parameter. When there were multiple trait loci, this bias destroyed the additivity of the effects of the trait loci, and caused biases in the estimation all genotypic means when a purely additive model was used for analyzing the data. To account for pedigree ascertainment with sequential sampling, we developed a Bayesian ascertainment approach and implemented Metropolis-Hastings updates in the MCMC samplers used in Loki. Ascertainment correction greatly reduced biases in parameter estimates. Our method is designed for multiple, but a fixed number of trait loci.

Ma J ，Amos CI ，Warwick Daw E 《GENETIC EPIDEMIOLOGY》