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Research Article

gerbil: Genotype resolution and block identification using likelihood

Gad Kimmel and Ron Shamir
  1. School of Computer Science, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel

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PNAS January 4, 2005 102 (1) 158-162; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0404730102
Gad Kimmel
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Ron Shamir
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  1. Edited by Richard M. Karp, International Computer Science Institute, Berkeley, CA (received for review July 1, 2004)

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Abstract

The abundance of genotype data generated by individual and international efforts carries the promise of revolutionizing disease studies and the association of phenotypes with individual polymorphisms. A key challenge is providing an accurate resolution (phasing) of the genotypes into haplotypes. We present here results on a method for genotype phasing in the presence of recombination. Our analysis is based on a stochastic model for recombination-poor regions (”blocks”), in which haplotypes are generated from a small number of core haplotypes, allowing for mutations, rare recombinations, and errors. We formulate genotype resolution and block partitioning as a maximum-likelihood problem and solve it by an expectation-maximization algorithm. The algorithm was implemented in a software package called gerbil (genotype resolution and block identification using likelihood), which is efficient and simple to use. We tested gerbil on four large-scale sets of genotypes. It outperformed two state-of-the-art phasing algorithms. The phase algorithm was slightly more accurate than gerbil when allowed to run with default parameters, but required two orders of magnitude more time. When using comparable running times, gerbil was consistently more accurate. For data sets with hundreds of genotypes, the time required by phase becomes prohibitive. We conclude that gerbil has a clear advantage for studies that include many hundreds of genotypes and, in particular, for large-scale disease studies.

  • haplotype
  • algorithm
  • phasing
  • single-nucleotide polymorphism
  • expectation maximization

Footnotes

  • ↵ * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: kgad{at}tau.ac.il.

  • This paper was submitted directly (Track II) to the PNAS office.

  • Abbreviations: gerbil, genotype resolution and block identification using likelihood; EM, expectation-maximization.

  • Copyright © 2005, The National Academy of Sciences
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gerbil: Genotype resolution and block identification using likelihood
Gad Kimmel, Ron Shamir
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Jan 2005, 102 (1) 158-162; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0404730102

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gerbil: Genotype resolution and block identification using likelihood
Gad Kimmel, Ron Shamir
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Jan 2005, 102 (1) 158-162; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0404730102
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America: 102 (1)
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