Estimation of physical distance in the genome through probabilistic analysis of marker density and Yeast Artificial Chromosome (YAC) size

Knowledge of the physical distance separating polymorphic markers which flank a region of interest can be usefully exploited in positional cloning methodology. We present a mathematical model for estimating this distance based on simple conditions generally met in practice. We illustrate estimation and construction of confidence intervals based on the model with data from a recent positional cloning experiment.