Phylogenetic association analysis with conditional rank correlation.

ABSTRACT: Phylogenetic association analysis plays a crucial role in investigating the correlation between microbial compositions and specific outcomes of interest in microbiome studies. However, existing methods for testing such associations have limitations related to the assumption of a linear association in high-dimensional settings and the handling of confounding effects. Hence, there is a need for methods capable of characterizing complex associations, including nonmonotonic relationships. This article introduces a novel phylogenetic association analysis framework and associated tests to address these challenges by employing conditional rank correlation as a measure of association. The proposed tests account for confounders in a fully nonparametric manner, ensuring robustness against outliers a

SUBMITTER: Wang S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11373757 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature