Genet. Sel. Evol. 34 (2002) 353-369
DOI: 10.1051/gse:2002012

A Bayesian approach for constructing genetic maps when markers are miscoded

Guilherme J.M. Rosa^a, Brian S. Yandell^b and Daniel Gianola<sup>c

a</sup>  Department of Biostatistics, UNESP, Botucatu, SP, Brazil
^b  Departments of Statistics and of Horticulture, University of Winconsin, Madison, WI, USA
^c  Departments of Animal Science and of Biostatistics & Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA

(Received 10 September 2001; accepted 8 February 2002)

Abstract
The advent of molecular markers has created opportunities for a better understanding of quantitative inheritance and for developing novel strategies for genetic improvement of agricultural species, using information on quantitative trait loci (QTL). A QTL analysis relies on accurate genetic marker maps. At present, most statistical methods used for map construction ignore the fact that molecular data may be read with error. Often, however, there is ambiguity about some marker genotypes. A Bayesian MCMC approach for inferences about a genetic marker map when random miscoding of genotypes occurs is presented, and simulated and real data sets are analyzed. The results suggest that unless there is strong reason to believe that genotypes are ascertained without error, the proposed approach provides more reliable inference on the genetic map.

Key words: genetic map construction / miscoded genotypes / Bayesian inference

Correspondence and reprints: Guilherme J.M. Rosa
    e-mail: rosag@msu.edu

© INRA, EDP Sciences 2002