40,447 research outputs found
Populations in statistical genetic modelling and inference
What is a population? This review considers how a population may be defined
in terms of understanding the structure of the underlying genetics of the
individuals involved. The main approach is to consider statistically
identifiable groups of randomly mating individuals, which is well defined in
theory for any type of (sexual) organism. We discuss generative models using
drift, admixture and spatial structure, and the ancestral recombination graph.
These are contrasted with statistical models for inference, principle component
analysis and other `non-parametric' methods. The relationships between these
approaches are explored with both simulated and real-data examples. The
state-of-the-art practical software tools are discussed and contrasted. We
conclude that populations are a useful theoretical construct that can be well
defined in theory and often approximately exist in practice
Assembling evidence for identifying reservoirs of infection
Many pathogens persist in multihost systems, making the identification of infection reservoirs crucial for devising effective interventions. Here, we present a conceptual framework for classifying patterns of incidence and prevalence, and review recent scientific advances that allow us to study and manage reservoirs simultaneously. We argue that interventions can have a crucial role in enriching our mechanistic understanding of how reservoirs function and should be embedded as quasi-experimental studies in adaptive management frameworks. Single approaches to the study of reservoirs are unlikely to generate conclusive insights whereas the formal integration of data and methodologies, involving interventions, pathogen genetics, and contemporary surveillance techniques, promises to open up new opportunities to advance understanding of complex multihost systems
Bacterial microevolution and the Pangenome
The comparison of multiple genome sequences sampled from a bacterial population reveals considerable diversity in both the core and the accessory parts of the pangenome. This diversity can be analysed in terms of microevolutionary events that took place since the genomes shared a common ancestor, especially deletion, duplication, and recombination. We review the basic modelling ingredients used implicitly or explicitly when performing such a pangenome analysis. In particular, we describe a basic neutral phylogenetic framework of bacterial pangenome microevolution, which is not incompatible with evaluating the role of natural selection. We survey the different ways in which pangenome data is summarised in order to be included in microevolutionary models, as well as the main methodological approaches that have been proposed to reconstruct pangenome microevolutionary history
Bayesian computation via empirical likelihood
Approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) has become an essential tool for the
analysis of complex stochastic models when the likelihood function is
numerically unavailable. However, the well-established statistical method of
empirical likelihood provides another route to such settings that bypasses
simulations from the model and the choices of the ABC parameters (summary
statistics, distance, tolerance), while being convergent in the number of
observations. Furthermore, bypassing model simulations may lead to significant
time savings in complex models, for instance those found in population
genetics. The BCel algorithm we develop in this paper also provides an
evaluation of its own performance through an associated effective sample size.
The method is illustrated using several examples, including estimation of
standard distributions, time series, and population genetics models.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figures, revised version of the previous version with a
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