Open AccessBlocks of chromosomes identical by descent in a population: Models and predictions
Author(s) -
Mathieu Tiret
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0187416
Subject(s) - identity by descent , imputation (statistics) , population , context (archaeology) , biology , population stratification , computational biology , genetics , haplotype , linkage (software) , computer science , gene , machine learning , genotype , medicine , paleontology , environmental health , missing data , single nucleotide polymorphism
With the highly dense genomic data available nowadays, ignoring linkage between genes would result in a huge loss of information. One way to prevent such a loss is to focus on the blocks of chromosomes shared identical by descent (IBD) in populations. The development of the theoretical framework modelling IBD processes is essential to support the advent of new tools such as haplotype phasing, imputation, inferring population structure and demographic history, mapping loci or detecting signatures of selection. This article aims to present the relevant models used in this context, and specify the underlying definitions of identity by descent that are yet to be gathered at one place. In light of this, we derived a general expression for the expected IBD block length, for any population model at any generation after founding.