Reconstructing population histories from molecular marker data
by
Jukka Corander(University of Helsinki)
→
Europe/Stockholm
Description
We introduced recently a Bayesian model for reconstructing population histories from SNP data (Sirén et al. 2011, MBE). An approximation to the neutral Wright-Fisher diffusion is used to model random fluctuations in allele frequencies over time. The population histories are modelled as binary rooted trees that represent the historical order of divergence of the different populations. A combination of analytical, numerical and Monte Carlo integration techniques are utilized for the inferences. We will go through the details of this model and also present some results from ongoing work where a generalization of the model to multiallelic data is developed, together with applications to inferring evolution of bacterial populations.
