Linkage Disequilibrium

Peter JP Croucher, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA

Published online: March 2008

DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0005427.pub2

When two or more polymorphic loci are studied in a population, the interaction between the loci is often expressed in terms of linkage disequilibrium (LD). The loci are in LD if their respective alleles do not associate independently (randomly). The degree of over- or underrepresentation of the expected haplotypes measures the extent of LD. Recombination acts to reduce LD.

Keywords: haplotype; gametic phase; mutation; recombination; population

 References
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    Reich DE, Cargill M, Bolk S et al. (2001) Linkage disequilibrium in the human genome. Nature 441: 199–204.

Related Sub-Topics:

Population Structure and Genetics | Variation by Mutation and Recombination | Linkage Analysis | Statistical Methodology in Genetics | Inter-Individual Variation and Polymorphism
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Article Title: Linkage Disequilibrium
 
How to Cite close
Croucher, Peter JP(Mar 2008) Linkage Disequilibrium. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0005427.pub2]