347 research outputs found
Bayesian inference of population size history from multiple loci
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Effective population size (<it>N</it><sub><it>e</it></sub>) is related to genetic variability and is a basic parameter in many models of population genetics. A number of methods for inferring current and past population sizes from genetic data have been developed since JFC Kingman introduced the n-coalescent in 1982. Here we present the Extended Bayesian Skyline Plot, a non-parametric Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm that extends a previous coalescent-based method in several ways, including the ability to analyze multiple loci.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Through extensive simulations we show the accuracy and limitations of inferring population size as a function of the amount of data, including recovering information about evolutionary bottlenecks. We also analyzed two real data sets to demonstrate the behavior of the new method; a single gene Hepatitis C virus data set sampled from Egypt and a 10 locus <it>Drosophila ananassae </it>data set representing 16 different populations.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results demonstrate the essential role of multiple loci in recovering population size dynamics. Multi-locus data from a small number of individuals can precisely recover past bottlenecks in population size which can not be characterized by analysis of a single locus. We also demonstrate that sequence data quality is important because even moderate levels of sequencing errors result in a considerable decrease in estimation accuracy for realistic levels of population genetic variability.</p
Bayesian Inference of Species Trees from Multilocus Data
Until recently, it has been common practice for a phylogenetic analysis to use a single gene sequence from a single individual organism as a proxy for an entire species. With technological advances, it is now becoming more common to collect data sets containing multiple gene loci and multiple individuals per species. These data sets often reveal the need to directly model intraspecies polymorphism and incomplete lineage sorting in phylogenetic estimation procedures
How Many Subpopulations is Too Many? Exponential Lower Bounds for Inferring Population Histories
Reconstruction of population histories is a central problem in population
genetics. Existing coalescent-based methods, like the seminal work of Li and
Durbin (Nature, 2011), attempt to solve this problem using sequence data but
have no rigorous guarantees. Determining the amount of data needed to correctly
reconstruct population histories is a major challenge. Using a variety of tools
from information theory, the theory of extremal polynomials, and approximation
theory, we prove new sharp information-theoretic lower bounds on the problem of
reconstructing population structure -- the history of multiple subpopulations
that merge, split and change sizes over time. Our lower bounds are exponential
in the number of subpopulations, even when reconstructing recent histories. We
demonstrate the sharpness of our lower bounds by providing algorithms for
distinguishing and learning population histories with matching dependence on
the number of subpopulations. Along the way and of independent interest, we
essentially determine the optimal number of samples needed to learn an
exponential mixture distribution information-theoretically, proving the upper
bound by analyzing natural (and efficient) algorithms for this problem.Comment: 38 pages, Appeared in RECOMB 201
Intellectual Property and Public Health – A White Paper
On October 26, 2012, the University of Akron School of Law’s Center for Intellectual Property and Technology hosted its Sixth Annual IP Scholars Forum. In attendance were thirteen legal scholars with expertise and an interest in IP and public health who met to discuss problems and potential solutions at the intersection of these fields. This report summarizes this discussion by describing the problems raised, areas of agreement and disagreement between the participants, suggestions and solutions made by participants and the subsequent evaluations of these suggestions and solutions. Led by the moderator, participants at the Forum focused generally on three broad questions. First, are there alternatives to either the patent system or specific patent doctrines that can provide or help provide sufficient incentives for health-related innovation? Second, is health information being used proprietarily and if so, is this type of protection appropriate? Third, does IP conflict with other non-IP values that are important in health and how does or can IP law help resolve these conflicts? This report addresses each of these questions in turn
Intellectual Property and Public Health - A White Paper
On October 26, 2012, The University of Akron School of Law\u27s Center for Intellectual Property and Technology hosted its Sixth Annual IP Scholars Forum. In attendance were thirteen legal scholars with expertise and an interest in IP and public health who met to discuss problems and potential solutions at the intersection of these fields. This report summarizes this discussion by describing the problems raised, areas of agreement and disagreement between the participants, suggestions and solutions made by participants, and the subsequent evaluations of these suggestions and solutions.
Led by the moderator, participants at the Forum focused generally on three broad questions. First, are there alternatives to the patent system or specific patent doctrines that can provide or help provide sufficient incentives for health-related innovation? Second, is health information being used proprietarily, and if so, is this use appropriate? Third, does IP conflict with other non-IP values that are important in health, and how does or how can IP law help resolve these conflicts? This report addresses each of these questions in turn
Phylogenetic Codivergence Supports Coevolution of Mimetic Heliconius Butterflies
The unpalatable and warning-patterned butterflies _Heliconius erato_ and _Heliconius melpomene_ provide the best studied example of mutualistic Müllerian mimicry, thought – but rarely demonstrated – to promote coevolution. Some of the strongest available evidence for coevolution comes from phylogenetic codivergence, the parallel divergence of ecologically associated lineages. Early evolutionary reconstructions suggested codivergence between mimetic populations of _H. erato_ and _H. melpomene_, and this was initially hailed as the most striking known case of coevolution. However, subsequent molecular phylogenetic analyses found discrepancies in phylogenetic branching patterns and timing (topological and temporal incongruence) that argued against codivergence. We present the first explicit cophylogenetic test of codivergence between mimetic populations of _H. erato_ and _H. melpomene_, and re-examine the timing of these radiations. We find statistically significant topological congruence between multilocus coalescent population phylogenies of _H. erato_ and _H. melpomene_, supporting repeated codivergence of mimetic populations. Divergence time estimates, based on a Bayesian coalescent model, suggest that the evolutionary radiations of _H. erato_ and _H. melpomene_ occurred over the same time period, and are compatible with a series of temporally congruent codivergence events. This evidence supports a history of reciprocal coevolution between Müllerian co-mimics characterised by phylogenetic codivergence and parallel phenotypic change
Intellectual Property and Public Health – A White Paper
On October 26, 2012, the University of Akron School of Law’s Center for Intellectual Property and Technology hosted its Sixth Annual IP Scholars Forum. In attendance were thirteen legal scholars with expertise and an interest in IP and public health who met to discuss problems and potential solutions at the intersection of these fields. This report summarizes this discussion by describing the problems raised, areas of agreement and disagreement between the participants, suggestions and solutions made by participants and the subsequent evaluations of these suggestions and solutions. Led by the moderator, participants at the Forum focused generally on three broad questions. First, are there alternatives to either the patent system or specific patent doctrines that can provide or help provide sufficient incentives for health-related innovation? Second, is health information being used proprietarily and if so, is this type of protection appropriate? Third, does IP conflict with other non-IP values that are important in health and how does or can IP law help resolve these conflicts? This report addresses each of these questions in turn
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