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A simplified estimator of two and four gene relationship coefficients
Author(s) -
THOMAS STUART C.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
molecular ecology resources
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.96
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1755-0998
pISSN - 1755-098X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-0998.2010.02840.x
Subject(s) - estimator , weighting , biology , statistics , moment (physics) , population , mathematics , consistent estimator , efficient estimator , range (aeronautics) , minimum variance unbiased estimator , physics , demography , materials science , classical mechanics , sociology , acoustics , composite material
Molecular marker data provide a means of circumventing the problem of not knowing the population structure of a natural population, as observed similarities between a pair’s genotypes provide information on their genetic relationship. Numerous method‐of‐moment (MOM) estimators have been developed for estimating relationship coefficients using this information. Here, I present a simplified form of Wang’s 2002 relationship estimator that is not dependent upon a previously required weighting scheme, thus improving the efficiency of the estimator when used with genuinely related pairs. The new estimator is compared against other estimators under a range of conditions, including situations where the parameter estimates are truncated to lie within the legitimate parameter space. The advantages of the new estimator are most notable for the two‐gene coefficient of relatedness. Truncating the MOM estimators results in parameter estimates whose properties are similar to maximum likelihood estimates, with them having generally lower sampling variances, but being biased.