The identification of quantitative trait loci (QTL) and their interactions is a crucial step toward the discovery of genes responsible for variation in experimental crosses. The problem is best viewed as one of model selection, and the most important aspect of the problem is the comparison of models of different sizes. We present a penalized likelihood approach, with penalties on QTL and pairwi...

BACKGROUND Single variant approaches have been successful in identifying DNA methylation quantitative trait loci (mQTL), although as with complex traits they lack the statistical power to identify the effects from rare genetic variants. We have undertaken extensive analyses to identify regions of low frequency and rare variants that are associated with DNA methylation levels. METHODS We used ...

I show that fine-scale localization of a survival-related locus can be accomplished on the basis of deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and linkage disequilibrium at closely linked marker loci. The method is based on chi(2)-tests and they can be performed for age-specific samples of alive (or dead) individuals, as for combined samples of alive and dead individuals.

Model search strategies play an important role in finding simultaneous susceptibility genes that are associated with a trait. More particularly, model selection via the information criteria, such as the BIC with modifications, have received considerable attention in quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping. However, such modifications often depend upon several factors, such as sample size, prior d...