Issue |
Genet. Sel. Evol.
Volume 34, Number 1, January-February 2002
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Page(s) | 1 - 21 | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/gse:2001001 |
Genet. Sel. Evol. 34 (2002) 1-21
DOI: 10.1051/gse:2001001
Bayesian QTL mapping using skewed Student-t distributions
Peter von Rohra, b and Ina Hoescheleaa Departments of Dairy Science and Statistics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0315, USA
b Institute of Animal Sciences, Animal Breeding, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland
(Received 23 April 2001; accepted 17 September 2001)
Abstract
In most QTL mapping studies, phenotypes are assumed to follow normal
distributions. Deviations from this assumption may lead to detection
of false positive QTL. To improve the robustness of Bayesian QTL
mapping methods, the normal distribution for residuals is replaced
with a skewed Student-
t distribution. The latter distribution is able
to account for both heavy tails and skewness, and both components are
each controlled by a single parameter. The Bayesian QTL mapping method
using a skewed Student-
t distribution is evaluated with simulated data
sets under five different scenarios of residual error distributions
and QTL effects.
Key words: Bayesian QTL mapping / skewed Student- t distribution / Metropolis-Hastings sampling
Correspondence and reprints: Ina Hoeschele
e-mail: inah@vt.edu
© INRA, EDP Sciences 2002