Sibship reconstruction in hierarchical population structures using Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques

Abstract

Markov chain Monte Carlo procedures allow the reconstruction of full-sibships using data from genetic marker loci only. In this study, these techniques are extended to allow the reconstruction of nested full- within half-sib families, and to present an efficient method for calculating the likelihood of the observed marker data in a nested family. Simulation is used to examine the properties of the reconstructed sibships, and of estimates of heritability and common environmental variance of quantitative traits obtained from those populations. Accuracy of reconstruction increases with increasing marker information and with increasing size of the nested full-sibships, but decreases with increasing population size. Estimates of variance component are biased, with the direction and magnitude of bias being dependent upon the underlying errors made during pedigree reconstruction.