Title Information
Title
Algorithms for Identifying Structural Variants in Human Genome
Name: Personal
Name Part
Ritz, Anna M
Role
Role Term: Text
creator
Origin Information
Copyright Date
2013
Physical Description
Extent
17, 149 p.
digitalOrigin
born digital
Note
Thesis (Ph.D. -- Brown University (2013)
Name: Personal
Name Part
Raphael, Benjamin
Role
Role Term: Text
Director
Name: Personal
Name Part
Dunn, Casey
Role
Role Term: Text
Reader
Name: Personal
Name Part
Laidlaw, David
Role
Role Term: Text
Reader
Name: Personal
Name Part
Upfal, Eli
Role
Role Term: Text
Reader
Name: Corporate
Name Part
Brown University. Computer Science
Role
Role Term: Text
sponsor
Genre (aat)
theses
Subject
Topic
structural variation
Subject
Topic
array-comparative genomic hybridization
Subject
Topic
DNA sequencing
Record Information
Record Content Source (marcorg)
RPB
Record Creation Date (encoding="iso8601")
20131218
Language
Language Term: Code (ISO639-2B)
eng
Language Term: Text
English
Abstract
Variation in genomes occurs in many forms, from single nucleotide changes to gains and losses of entire chromosomes. Large-scale rearrangements, called structural variants (SVs), are associated with numerous diseases and are common in cancer genomes. However, many SVs in mammalian genomes are found in highly repetitive regions, complicating their detection and characterization. Ongoing development of genomic technologies invite new algorithmic approaches to SV detection.<br/><br/> In this thesis, we present a collection of four algorithms that identify SVs using data from current and emerging genomic technologies. The first algorithm is designed for a technology called array-comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH), which measures the number of copies of DNA segments present in a test genome relative to a known reference genome. We describe a method to identify SVs that are common to a group of individuals, and apply the method to aCGH data from hundreds of cancer patients. We recover an SV in prostate cancer that is known to be biologically important, and we infer a number of novel SVs in brain cancer.<br/><br/> Our other algorithms are designed for DNA sequencing technologies, which measure a broader range of SVs than aCGH data with the tradeoff of higher cost. One DNA sequencing technology, strobe sequencing, yields multiple sequences from a single, contiguous fragment of DNA. While strobes provide longer sequenced portions of DNA compared to other sequencing technologies, the per-base error rate is substantially higher. Our algorithms for SV detection exploit the benefits of multiply-linked DNA sequences while being robust to high sequencing error rates. We describe the first published method for SV detection using strobe sequencing, which finds the smallest number of SVs (relative to a known reference genome) that explain the strobes. We then improve upon our method with a probabilistic algorithm that better models the strobe sequencing data. Finally, we describe a de novo assembly algorithm for strobe sequencing data when a reference genome is unavailable. We assess the performance of these algorithms on simulated and real strobe sequencing data, and conclude that with appropriate algorithms, strobe sequencing compares favorably to other DNA sequencing technologies.
Identifier: DOI
10.7301/Z00863MD
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In Copyright
Access Condition: restriction on access
Collection is open for research.
Type of Resource (primo)
dissertations