Netview p: A network visualization tool to unravel complex population structure using genome-wide SNPs

Abstract

Network-based approaches are emerging as valuable tools for the analysis of complex genetic structure in wild and captive populations. netview p combines data quality control with the construction of population networks through mutual k-nearest neighbours thresholds applied to genome-wide SNPs. The program is cross-platform compatible, open-source and efficiently operates on data ranging from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of SNPs. The pipeline was used for the analysis of pedigree data from simulated (n = 750, SNPs = 1279) and captive silver-lipped pearl oysters (n = 415, SNPs = 1107), wild populations of the European hake from the Atlantic and Mediterranean (n = 834, SNPs = 380) and grey wolves from North America (n = 239, SNPs = 78 255). The population networks effectively visualize large- and fine-scale genetic structure within and between populations, including family-level structure and relationships. netview p comprises a network-based addition to other population analysis tools and provides user-friendly access to a complex network analysis pipeline through implementation in PYTHON.