A Probabilistic Framework for Simultaneous Analysis of Genomic Data Within and Between Populations

• Activity Number: 64
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Sunday, August 3, 2014 : 4:00 PM to 5:50 PM
• Sponsor: Biometrics Section
• Author(s): Asger Hobolth*+
• Companies: Aarhus University
• Keywords: diffusion process ; genomic data ; population history ; Wright-Fisher model

Abstract

In this paper we develop and apply a probabilistic framework for analyses of genetic data produced by high-throughput sequencing and genotyping technologies. These types of data involves hundreds of individuals and millions of genomic positions, and contain information about demographic histories and selective forces acting upon the populations. This information can, however, only be obtained from sound probabilistic frameworks and statistical inference techniques. Previous methods only apply to genetic data within or between populations. We develop a method that applies simultaneously between and within populations. The main idea is to approximate the allele frequency distribution at any evolutionary distance using a generalized Beta distribution. The method is applied to data from the great ape genome project.