Input files

 

PowQ requires pedigree files and map files as input.

 

Pedigree File

 

The pedigree file describes the relationships between families’ members. Each row of the file describes a single individual and has the following standard format:

 

FamilyID  PersonID FatherID MotherID Sex SelectionFlag

 

The FamilyID is a numeric code that uniquely identifies a family within a pedigree file.

The PersonID is a numeric code that uniquely identifies an individual within a family.

FatherID and MotherID are the numeric codes that specify the individual’s parents. If an individual is a founder each parent identifier field contains a “0”, otherwise the two parents should be present in the same family.

The Sex field contains “1” for a male or “2” for a female.

The SelectionFlag field contains “2” if the individual must be included in the power analysis or “0” if the individual must not be included in the analysis.

 

All fields must be separated by a single TAB.

.

An example of a family where three sons are selected for the power study:

 

1          1          0          0          1          0

1          2          0          0          2          0

1          3          0          0          1          2

1          4          0          0          1          2

1          5          0          0          1          2

 

A pedigree file can contain a single family or several families.

If evaluating a study in order to estimate the power of a number of families having the same structure, it is possible to specify a single family and ask PowQ to simulate the data on a number of replicates of the same family structure. When evaluating a comparative study, each individual in the pedigree files must have a unique identifier within the whole file. The reason is that if one wants, for instance, to investigate the effects on power derived from the partitioning of a single large genealogy (or of very large different families) in sub-pedigrees, the combined FamilyID and PersonID fields could be not sufficient to address the same individual in the two different pedigree files.

 

The default extension for a pedigree file is “ped”.

 

Note: remove all the empty lines at the end of the file 

 

Map file

 

The map file describes the chromosomal location of each genetic marker and of the QTL.

Each row describes a single marker or the QTL:

 

Name Position

 

The Name field is not used in the analysis, as each marker will be referred by its position in the chromosome or by a progressive number.

At the QTL position you must specify the name QTL.

The Position field specify in centimorgans (cM) each marker position in the chromosome, according to a Haldane genetic map.

 

The two fields must be separated by a single TAB.

 

An example of a map with six markers separated by 5 cM and a QTL in the middle of the map of chromosome 24:

 

24        mrk1   55

24        mrk2   60

24        mrk3   65

24        QTL     67.5

24        mrk4   70

24        mrk5   75

24        mrk6   80

 

The default extension for a map file is “map”.

 

Note: remove all the empty lines at the end of the file