Combined high resolution linkage and association mapping of quantitative trait loci

In this paper, we investigate variance component models of both linkage analysis and high resolution linkage disequilibrium (LD) mapping for quantitative trait loci (QTL). The models are based on both family pedigree and population data. We consider likelihoods which utilize flanking marker information, and carry out an analysis of model building and parameter estimations. The likelihoods jointly include recombination fractions, LD coefficients, the average allele substitution effect and allele dominant effect as parameters. Hence, the model simultaneously takes care of the linkage, LD or association and the effects of the putative trait locus. The models clearly demonstrate that linkage analysis and LD mapping are complementary, not exclusive, methods for QTL mapping. By power calculations and comparisons, we show the advantages of the proposed method: (1) population data can provide information for LD mapping, and family pedigree data can provide information for both linkage analysis and LD mapping; (2) using family pedigree data and a sparse marker map, one may investigate the prior suggestive linkage between trait locus and markers to obtain low resolution of the trait loci, because linkage analysis can locate a broad candidate region; (3) with the prior knowledge of suggestive linkage from linkage analysis, both population and family pedigree data can be used simultaneously in high resolution LD mapping based on a dense marker map, since LD mapping can increase the resolution for candidate regions; (4) models of high resolution LD mappings using two flanking markers have higher power than that of models of using only one marker in the analysis; (5) excluding the dominant variance from the analysis when it does exist would lose power; (6) by performing linkage interval mappings, one may get higher power than by using only one marker in the analysis.