Effects of genotyping errors, missing values and segregation distortion in molecular marker data on the construction of linkage maps

A simulation study was performed to investigate the effects of missing values, typing errors and distorted segregation ratios in molecular marker data on the construction of genetic linkage maps, and to compare the performance of three locus-ordering criteria (weighted least squares, maximum likelihood and minimum sum of adjacent recombination fractions criteria) in the presence of such effects. The study was based upon three linkage groups of 10 loci at 2, 6, and 10 cM spacings simulated from a doubled-haploid population of size 150. Criteria performance were assessed using the number of replicates with correctly estimated orders, the mean rank correlation between the estimated and the true order and the mean total map length. Bootstrap samples from replicates in the maximum likelihood analysis produced a measure of confidence in the estimated locus order. The effects of missing values and/or typing errors in the data are to reduce the proportion of correctly ordered maps, and this problem worsens as the distances between loci decreases. The maximum likelihood criterion is most successful at ordering loci correctly, but gives estimated map lengths, which are substantially inflated when typing errors are present. The presence of missing values in the data produces shorter map lengths for more widely spaced markers, especially under the weighted least-squares criterion. Overall, the presence of segregation distortion has little effect on this population.