Noah Rosenberg laboratory at the University of Michigan

Noah A Rosenberg
+1 734 615 9556 (office phone)
+1 734 615 9551 (lab phone)
+1 734 615 6553 (fax)


Office: 2035c Palmer Commons

Lab: 2035 Palmer Commons

Mailing address
Bioinformatics Program
University of Michigan
2017 Palmer Commons
100 Washtenaw Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2218 USA

Last modified 9-23-2009 by NR

Research

The research in the lab is in the general fields of evolutionary biology, human genetics, and population genetics. We utilize mathematical theory, computer simulation, and statistical data analysis tools to address problems in these fields. We also engage in the development and implementation of new statistical approaches and algorithms.


Mathematical models of gene genealogies from one or more species
We are interested in mathematical population genetics and in understanding how the various forces in evolution can contribute to patterns of genetic variation. A particular interest is in population-genetic theory for species that have diverged sufficiently recently that they still share genetic polymorphism. Also, we are interested in how mathematical theory enables predictions to be made about what might be found in population-genetic data, and how it can therefore aid in the development of statistical methods for analyzing these data.

  • JH Degnan, NA Rosenberg (2009) Gene tree discordance, phylogenetic inference, and the multispecies coalescent. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 24: 332-340. [Abstract]

  • S Ramachandran, NA Rosenberg, MW Feldman, J Wakeley (2008) Population differentiation and migration: coalescence times in a two-sex island model for autosomal and X-linked loci. Theoretical Population Biology 74: 281-291. [Abstract]

  • NA Rosenberg, M Jakobsson (2008) The relationship between homozygosity and the frequency of the most frequent allele. Genetics 179: 2027-2036. [Abstract]

  • JM VanLiere, NA Rosenberg (2008) Mathematical properties of the r2 measure of linkage disequilibrium. Theoretical Population Biology 74: 130-137. [Abstract]

  • JM Macpherson, J Gonzalez, DM Witten, JC Davis, NA Rosenberg, AE Hirsh, DA Petrov (2008) Nonadaptive explanations for signatures of partial selective sweeps in Drosophila. Molecular Biology and Evolution 25: 1025-1042. [Abstract]

  • NA Rosenberg, R Tao (2008) Discordance of species trees with their most likely gene trees: the case of five taxa. Systematic Biology 57: 131-140. [Abstract] [Full text at journal website] [PDF] [Supplement]

  • K Zhang, NA Rosenberg (2007) On the genealogy of a duplicated microsatellite. Genetics 177: 2109-2122. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • MGB Blum, NA Rosenberg (2007) Estimating the number of ancestral lineages using a maximum likelihood method based on rejection sampling. Genetics 176: 1741-1757. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • NA Rosenberg, MGB Blum (2007) Sampling properties of homozygosity-based statistics for linkage disequilibrium. Mathematical Biosciences 208: 33-47. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • M Jakobsson, NA Rosenberg (2007) The probability distribution under a population divergence model of the number of genetic founding lineages of a population or species. Theoretical Population Biology 71: 502-523. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • NA Rosenberg (2007) Statistical tests for taxonomic distinctiveness from observations of monophyly. Evolution 61: 317-323. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • JH Degnan, NA Rosenberg (2006) Discordance of species trees with their most likely gene trees. PLoS Genetics 2: 762-768. [Abstract] [Full-text at journal website] [PDF]

  • NA Rosenberg (2006) The mean and variance of the numbers of r-pronged nodes and r-caterpillars in Yule-generated genealogical trees. Annals of Combinatorics 10: 129-146. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • H Innan, K Zhang, P Marjoram, S Tavaré, NA Rosenberg (2005) Statistical tests of the coalescent model based on the haplotype frequency distribution and the number of segregating sites. Genetics 169: 1763-1777. [Abstract] [PDF] [Software]

  • NA Rosenberg, PP Calabrese (2004) Polyploid and multilocus extensions of the Wahlund inequality. Theoretical Population Biology 66: 381-391. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • MM Tanaka, NA Rosenberg, PM Small (2004) The control of copy number of IS6110 in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Molecular Biology and Evolution 21: 2195-2201. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • S Ramachandran, NA Rosenberg, LA Zhivotovsky, MW Feldman (2004) Robustness of the inference of human population structure: a comparison of X-chromosomal and autosomal microsatellites. Human Genomics 1: 87-97. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • NA Rosenberg, LM Li, R Ward, JK Pritchard (2003) Informativeness of genetic markers for inference of ancestry. American Journal of Human Genetics 73: 1402-1422. [Abstract] [PDF] [Supplement] [Microsatellite data] [SNP data] [SNP data readme] [Solution to Problem 11039 required in appendix of paper (American Mathematical Monthly 112: 572-573, 2005)] [Software]

  • NA Rosenberg, AE Hirsh (2003) On the use of star-shaped genealogies in inference of coalescence times. Genetics 164: 1677-1682. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • NA Rosenberg (2003) The shapes of neutral gene genealogies in two species: probabilities of monophyly, paraphyly, and polyphyly in a coalescent model. Evolution 57: 1465-1477. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • NA Rosenberg, M Nordborg (2002) Genealogical trees, coalescent theory, and the analysis of genetic polymorphisms. Nature Reviews Genetics 3: 380-390. [Abstract] [PDF] [article at NRG website (includes "bullet point" summary)]

  • NA Rosenberg (2002) The probability of topological concordance of gene trees and species trees. Theoretical Population Biology 61: 225-247. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • NA Rosenberg, MW Feldman (2002) The relationship between coalescence times and population divergence times. Chapter 9 in M Slatkin and M Veuille, eds. Modern Developments in Theoretical Population Genetics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 130-164. [Abstract] [PDF of final version]


Phylogenetic reconstruction taking into account differing signals from different genes
For closely related species, it is possible and sometimes probable that the evolutionary history of an individual gene will not reflect the history of the species. Partly because of this phenomenon of gene tree discordance, phylogenies of species reconstructed from different parts of a genome may suggest different relationships among the various species. We are developing theory that makes predictions about gene tree discordance, and are also devising statistical methods for inference of phylogenies in its presence.

  • JH Degnan, M DeGiorgio, D Bryant, NA Rosenberg (2009) Properties of consensus methods for inferring species trees from gene trees. Systematic Biology 58: 35-54. [Abstract]

  • NA Rosenberg, R Tao (2008) Discordance of species trees with their most likely gene trees: the case of five taxa. Systematic Biology 57: 131-140. [Abstract] [Full text at journal website] [PDF] [Supplement]

  • NA Rosenberg (2007) Counting coalescent histories. Journal of Computational Biology 14: 360-377. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • JH Degnan, NA Rosenberg (2006) Discordance of species trees with their most likely gene trees. PLoS Genetics 2: 762-768. [Abstract] [Full-text at journal website] [PDF]

  • NA Rosenberg (2003) The shapes of neutral gene genealogies in two species: probabilities of monophyly, paraphyly, and polyphyly in a coalescent model. Evolution 57: 1465-1477. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • NA Rosenberg, M Nordborg (2002) Genealogical trees, coalescent theory, and the analysis of genetic polymorphisms. Nature Reviews Genetics 3: 380-390. [Abstract] [PDF] [article at NRG website (includes "bullet point" summary)]

  • NA Rosenberg (2002) The probability of topological concordance of gene trees and species trees. Theoretical Population Biology 61: 225-247. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • NA Rosenberg, MW Feldman (2002) The relationship between coalescence times and population divergence times. Chapter 9 in M Slatkin and M Veuille, eds. Modern Developments in Theoretical Population Genetics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 130-164. [Abstract] [PDF of final version]


Human variation and inference of human evolutionary history from genetic markers
The genomes of individuals in a species record many aspects of the history of the species. We are interested in understanding the geographic distribution of human genetic variation and in devising and applying statistical methods for learning about human evolutionary history from this genetic variation. We are more broadly interested in the properties of statistical methods for analyzing genetic variation and inferring genetic history, and are also applying these methods to various species besides humans.

  • M DeGiorgio, M Jakobsson, NA Rosenberg (2009) Explaining worldwide patterns of human genetic variation using a coalescent-based serial founder model of migration outward from Africa. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 106: 16057-16062. [Abstract]

  • KB Schroeder, M Jakobsson, MH Crawford, TG Schurr, SM Boca, DF Conrad, RY Tito, LP Osipova, LA Tarskaia, SI Zhadanov, JD Wall, JK Pritchard, RS Malhi, DG Smith, NA Rosenberg (2009) Haplotypic background of a private allele at high frequency in the Americas. Molecular Biology and Evolution 26: 995-1016. [Abstract]

  • M DeGiorgio, NA Rosenberg (2009) An unbiased estimator of gene diversity in samples containing related individuals. Molecular Biology and Evolution 26: 501-512. [Abstract]

  • S Ramachandran, NA Rosenberg, MW Feldman, J Wakeley (2008) Population differentiation and migration: coalescence times in a two-sex island model for autosomal and X-linked loci. Theoretical Population Biology 74: 281-291. [Abstract]

  • ZA Szpiech, M Jakobsson, NA Rosenberg (2008) ADZE: a rarefaction approach for counting alleles private to combinations of populations. Bioinformatics 24: 2498-2504. [Abstract] [ Full text at journal website] [PDF] [Software]

  • O François, MGB Blum, M Jakobsson, NA Rosenberg (2008) Demographic history of European populations of Arabidopsis thaliana. PLoS Genetics 4: e1000075. [Abstract] [Full text at journal website] [PDF] [Supplement]

  • M Jakobsson*, SW Scholz*, P Scheet*, JR Gibbs, JM VanLiere, H-C Fung, ZA Szpiech, JH Degnan, K Wang, R Guerreiro, JM Bras, JC Schymick, DG Hernandez, BJ Traynor, J Simon-Sanchez, M Matarin, A Britton, J van de Leemput, I Rafferty, M Bucan, HM Cann, JA Hardy, NA Rosenberg, AB Singleton (2008) Genotype, haplotype and copy-number variation in worldwide human populations. Nature 451: 998-1003. [Abstract]

  • S Wang*, CM Lewis Jr*, M Jakobsson*, S Ramachandran, N Ray, G Bedoya, W Rojas, MV Parra, JA Molina, C Gallo, G Mazzotti, G Poletti, K Hill, AM Hurtado, D Labuda, W Klitz, R Barrantes, MC Bortolini, FM Salzano, ML Petzl-Erler, LT Tsuneto, E Llop, F Rothhammer, L Excoffier, MW Feldman, NA Rosenberg, A Ruiz-Linares (2007) Genetic variation and population structure in Native Americans. PLoS Genetics 3: 2049-2067. [Abstract] [Full text at journal website] [PDF] [Supplement] [Data] [Readme for datafile]

  • M Jakobsson, NA Rosenberg (2007) CLUMPP: a cluster matching and permutation program for dealing with label switching and multimodality in analysis of population structure. Bioinformatics 23: 1801-1806. [Abstract] [Full text at journal website] [PDF] [Software]

  • MGB Blum, NA Rosenberg (2007) Estimating the number of ancestral lineages using a maximum likelihood method based on rejection sampling. Genetics 176: 1741-1757. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • KB Schroeder, TG Schurr, JC Long, NA Rosenberg, MH Crawford, LA Tarskaia, LP Osipova, SI Zhadanov, DG Smith (2007). A private allele ubiquitous in the Americas. Biology Letters 3: 218-223. [Abstract] [PDF] [Supplement]

  • NA Rosenberg, S Mahajan, C Gonzalez-Quevedo, MGB Blum, L Nino-Rosales, V Ninis, P Das, M Hegde, L Molinari, G Zapata, JL Weber, JW Belmont, PI Patel (2006) Low levels of genetic divergence across geographically and linguistically diverse populations from India. PLoS Genetics 2: 2052-2061. [Abstract] [Full-text at journal website] [PDF] [Supplementary Tables 1-3 (DOC)] [Supplementary Tables 1-3 (PDF)]

  • DF Conrad*, M Jakobsson*, G Coop*, X Wen, JD Wall, NA Rosenberg, JK Pritchard (2006) A worldwide survey of haplotype variation and linkage disequilibrium in the human genome. Nature Genetics 38: 1251-1260. [Abstract] [PDF] [Supplement (methods, note, and figures] [Supplementary Table 1] [Data]

    NA Rosenberg (2006) Standardized subsets of the HGDP-CEPH Human Genome Diversity Cell Line Panel, accounting for atypical and duplicated samples and pairs of close relatives. Annals of Human Genetics 70: 841-847. [Abstract] [PDF] [Supplement] [Data] [Spreadsheet with recommended subsets (txt format)] [Spreadsheet with recommended subsets (xls format)]

  • NA Rosenberg, S Mahajan, S Ramachandran, C Zhao, JK Pritchard, MW Feldman (2005) Clines, clusters, and the effect of study design on the inference of human population structure. PLoS Genetics 1: 660-671. [Abstract] [Full-text at journal website] [PDF] [Data]

  • NA Rosenberg (2005) Algorithms for selecting informative marker panels for population assignment. Journal of Computational Biology 12: 1183-1201. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • S Ramachandran, O Deshpande, CC Roseman, NA Rosenberg, MW Feldman, LL Cavalli-Sforza (2005) Support from the relationship of genetic and geographic distance in human populations for a serial founder effect originating in Africa. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 102: 15942-15947. [Abstract] [PDF] [Supplementary Figure 6] [Supplementary Table 2] [Supplementary text] [Data]

  • M Nordborg, TT Hu, Y Ishino, J Jhaveri, C Toomajian, H Zheng, E Bakker, P Calabrese, J Gladstone, R Goyal, M Jakobsson, S Kim, Y Morozov, B Padhukasahasram, V Plagnol, NA Rosenberg, C Shah, JD Wall, J Wang, K Zhao, T Kalbfleisch, V Schulz, M Kreitman, J Bergelson (2005) The pattern of polymorphism in Arabidopsis thaliana. PLoS Biology 3: 1289-1299. [Abstract] [Full-text at journal website] [PDF]

  • H Innan, K Zhang, P Marjoram, S Tavaré, NA Rosenberg (2005) Statistical tests of the coalescent model based on the haplotype frequency distribution and the number of segregating sites. Genetics 169: 1763-1777. [Abstract] [PDF] [Software]

  • NA Rosenberg, PP Calabrese (2004) Polyploid and multilocus extensions of the Wahlund inequality. Theoretical Population Biology 66: 381-391. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • S Ramachandran, NA Rosenberg, LA Zhivotovsky, MW Feldman (2004) Robustness of the inference of human population structure: a comparison of X-chromosomal and autosomal microsatellites. Human Genomics 1: 87-97. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • NA Rosenberg (2004) Distruct: a program for the graphical display of population structure. Molecular Ecology Notes 4: 137-138. [Abstract] [PDF] [Software]

  • NA Rosenberg, LM Li, R Ward, JK Pritchard (2003) Informativeness of genetic markers for inference of ancestry. American Journal of Human Genetics 73: 1402-1422. [Abstract] [PDF] [Supplement] [Microsatellite data] [SNP data] [SNP data readme] [Solution to Problem 11039 required in appendix of paper (American Mathematical Monthly 112: 572-573, 2005)] [Software]

  • NA Rosenberg, AE Hirsh (2003) On the use of star-shaped genealogies in inference of coalescence times. Genetics 164: 1677-1682. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • NA Rosenberg, JK Pritchard, JL Weber, HM Cann, KK Kidd, LA Zhivotovsky, MW Feldman (2003) Response to comment on "Genetic structure of human populations." Science 300: 1877. [Abstract] [PDF] [Data]

  • LA Zhivotovsky, NA Rosenberg, MW Feldman (2003) Features of evolution and expansion of modern humans, inferred from genomewide microsatellite markers. American Journal of Human Genetics 72: 1171-1186. [Abstract] [PDF] [Data]

  • NA Rosenberg, JK Pritchard, JL Weber, HM Cann, KK Kidd, LA Zhivotovsky, MW Feldman (2002) Genetic structure of human populations. Science 298: 2381-2385. [Abstract] [Full Text at Science website] [PDF] [Supplement] [Data in Excel] [Data in structure and NEXUS formats] [Software for drawing figures] [Español]

  • NA Rosenberg, M Nordborg (2002) Genealogical trees, coalescent theory, and the analysis of genetic polymorphisms. Nature Reviews Genetics 3: 380-390. [Abstract] [PDF] [article at NRG website (includes "bullet point" summary)]

  • NA Rosenberg, MW Feldman (2002) The relationship between coalescence times and population divergence times. Chapter 9 in M Slatkin and M Veuille, eds. Modern Developments in Theoretical Population Genetics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 130-164. [Abstract] [PDF of final version]

  • NA Rosenberg, T Burke, K Elo, MW Feldman, P Friedlin, MAM Groenen, J Hillel, A Mäki-Tanila, M Tixier-Boichard, A Vignal, K Wimmers, S Weigend (2001) Empirical evaluation of genetic clustering methods using multilocus genotypes from 20 chicken breeds. Genetics 159: 699-713. [Abstract] [PDF] [Data] [Photo]

  • NA Rosenberg, E Woolf, JK Pritchard, T Schaap, D Gefel, I Shpirer, U Lavi, B Bonné-Tamir, J Hillel, MW Feldman (2001) Distinctive genetic signatures in the Libyan Jews. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 98: 858-863. [Abstract] [PDF] [Data]

  • L Jin , ML Baskett, LL Cavalli-Sforza, LA Zhivotovsky, MW Feldman, NA Rosenberg (2000) Microsatellite evolution in modern humans: a comparison of two data sets from the same populations. Annals of Human Genetics 64: 117-134. [Abstract] [PDF] [Data]


The relationship of human evolution to the search for disease-susceptibility genes
The pattern of variation of a genetic marker between diseased and non-disease individuals can potentially be used to identify the marker as being located near on the genome to disease-susceptibility loci. However, the history of the human population can affect the strength of the signal of association between markers and disease, as well as the replicability of observed associations across studies. We are designing statistical methdods for genetic mapping that take human genetic variation and human evolutionary history into account, in order to increase the prospects for locating disease-susceptibility genes.

  • L Huang, C Wang, NA Rosenberg (2009) The relationship between imputation error and statistical power in genetic association studies in diverse populations. American Journal of Human Genetics 85: 692-698. [Abstract]

  • NA Rosenberg, JM VanLiere (2009) Replication of genetic associations as pseudoreplication due to shared genealogy. Genetic Epidemiology 33: 479-487. [Abstract]

  • L Huang, Y Li, AB Singleton, JA Hardy, G Abecasis, NA Rosenberg, P Scheet (2009) Genotype imputation accuracy across worldwide human populations. American Journal of Human Genetics 84: 235-250. [Abstract]

  • TJ Pemberton*, M Jakobsson*, DF Conrad, G Coop, JD Wall, JK Pritchard, PI Patel, NA Rosenberg (2008) Using population mixtures to optimize the utility of genomic databases: linkage disequilibrium and association study design in India. Annals of Human Genetics 72: 535-546. [Abstract] [Data]

  • M Jakobsson*, SW Scholz*, P Scheet*, JR Gibbs, JM VanLiere, H-C Fung, ZA Szpiech, JH Degnan, K Wang, R Guerreiro, JM Bras, JC Schymick, DG Hernandez, BJ Traynor, J Simon-Sanchez, M Matarin, A Britton, J van de Leemput, I Rafferty, M Bucan, HM Cann, JA Hardy, NA Rosenberg, AB Singleton (2008) Genotype, haplotype and copy-number variation in worldwide human populations. Nature 451: 998-1003. [Abstract]

  • DF Conrad*, M Jakobsson*, G Coop*, X Wen, JD Wall, NA Rosenberg, JK Pritchard (2006) A worldwide survey of haplotype variation and linkage disequilibrium in the human genome. Nature Genetics 38: 1251-1260. [Abstract] [PDF] [Supplement (methods, note, and figures] [Supplementary Table 1] [Data]

  • NA Rosenberg, M Nordborg (2006) A general population-genetic model for the production by population structure of spurious genotype-phenotype associations in discrete, admixed or spatially distributed populations. Genetics 173: 1665-1678. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • NA Rosenberg, LM Li, R Ward, JK Pritchard (2003) Informativeness of genetic markers for inference of ancestry. American Journal of Human Genetics 73: 1402-1422. [Abstract] [PDF] [Supplement] [Microsatellite data] [SNP data] [SNP data readme] [Solution to Problem 11039 required in appendix of paper (American Mathematical Monthly 112: 572-573, 2005)] [Software]

  • NA Rosenberg, JK Pritchard, JL Weber, HM Cann, KK Kidd, LA Zhivotovsky, MW Feldman (2002) Genetic structure of human populations. Science 298: 2381-2385. [Abstract] [Full Text at Science website] [PDF] [Supplement] [Data in Excel] [Data in structure and NEXUS formats] [Software for drawing figures] [Español]

  • JK Pritchard, M Stephens, NA Rosenberg, P Donnelly (2000) Association mapping in structured populations. American Journal of Human Genetics 67: 170-181. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • JK Pritchard, NA Rosenberg (1999) Use of unlinked genetic markers to detect population stratification in association studies. American Journal of Human Genetics 65: 220-228. [Abstract] [PDF]


Miscellaneous

  • NA Rosenberg (2005) A sharp minimum on the mean number of steps taken in adaptive walks. Journal of Theoretical Biology 237: 17-22. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • MM Tanaka, NA Rosenberg, PM Small (2004) The control of copy number of IS6110 in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Molecular Biology and Evolution 21: 2195-2201. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • NA Rosenberg, AG Tsolaki, MM Tanaka (2003) Estimating change rates of genetic markers using serial samples: applications to the transposon IS6110 in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Theoretical Population Biology 63: 347-363. [Abstract] [PDF]

  • MM Tanaka, NA Rosenberg (2001) Optimal estimation of transposition rates of insertion sequences for molecular epidemiology. Statistics in Medicine 20: 2409-2420. [Abstract] [PDF]