Testing in Microbiome-Profiling Studies with MiRKAT, the Microbiome Regression-Based Kernel Association Test.

ABSTRACT: High-throughput sequencing technology has enabled population-based studies of the role of the human microbiome in disease etiology and exposure response. Distance-based analysis is a popular strategy for evaluating the overall association between microbiome diversity and outcome, wherein the phylogenetic distance between individuals' microbiome profiles is computed and tested for association via permutation. Despite their practical popularity, distance-based approaches suffer from important challenges, especially in selecting the best distance and extending the methods to alternative outcomes, such as survival outcomes. We propose the microbiome regression-based kernel association test (MiRKAT), which directly regresses the outcome on the microbiome profiles via the semi-parametric kernel

SUBMITTER: Zhao N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4570290 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature