Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41838407›Full record

ArticleBioinformatics (Oxford, England)2026

Tractor workflow: a scalable Nextflow framework for local ancestry-aware genome-wide association studies.

Nirav N Shah, Taotao Tan, Jessica Honorato-Mauer, Yi-Sian Lin, Adam X Maihofer, Clement C Zai, PGC-PTSD ancestry working group, Marcos Santoro, Caroline M Nievergelt, Elizabeth G Atkinson

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Bioinformatics (Oxford, England), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Nirav N ShahDepartment of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-1533-1123
Taotao TanDepartment of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, United States.
Jessica Honorato-MauerDepartment of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, United States.
Yi-Sian LinDepartment of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, United States.
Adam X MaihoferDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0667, United States.
Clement C ZaiDepartment of Psychiatry, Institute of Medical Science, Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5T1R8, Canada.
PGC-PTSD ancestry working group
Marcos SantoroDisciplina de Biologia Molecular, Departamento de Bioquímica, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo 04044-010, Brazil.
Caroline M NievergeltDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0667, United States.
Elizabeth G AtkinsonDepartment of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, United States.

Funding

Psychiatric Genomics Consortium for PTSDR01MH106595 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI KARESTAN C KOENEN, Caroline M Nievergelt · 2016 to 2026
$8.4M
Genetics of PTSD in African Ancestry Populations: Enhancing discovery by addressing inequalityR01MH134468 · NIMH · BROAD INSTITUTE, INC. · PI KARESTAN C KOENEN, Caroline M Nievergelt · 2023 to 2026
$7.2M
Empowering gene discovery and accelerating clinical translation for diverse admixed populationsR01HG012869 · NHGRI · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · PI Elizabeth Grace Atkinson · 2023 to 2026
$3.1M
NIH HHS R01HG012869NIH HHS R01MH106595NIH HHS R01MH134468
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

motivationThe routine exclusion of admixed individuals from traditional genome-wide association studies (GWAS) due to concerns about spurious associations has limited multi-ancestry genetic discovery. Tractor addresses this issue by incorporating local ancestry into association testing, enabling the identification of ancestry-enriched signals and generating ancestry-specific summary statistics. However, adoption has been constrained by the complexity of prerequisite steps, including phasing and local ancestry inference, which require substantial bioinformatics expertise and introduce key analytical decision points.

resultsWe developed a scalable, automated Nextflow workflow that integrates phasing, local ancestry inference, and Tractor association testing into a reproducible end-to-end pipeline. To demonstrate its utility, we applied the workflow to 32 blood biomarkers in 6245 two-way African-European admixed individuals from the UK Biobank. This pipeline performed efficiently at scale, replicating known associations and uncovering key ancestry-specific loci. These associations were largely driven by variants present on African ancestral tracts but absent from European tracts, underscoring the value of local ancestry-aware methods in uncovering previously masked genetic signals. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: The workflow is modular, customizable, and compatible with commonly used phasing and local ancestry tools, minimizing manual intervention while preserving analytical flexibility. By lowering technical barriers to implementation, this framework facilitates broader adoption of local ancestry-aware GWAS, paving the way for expanded genetic discovery.

Indexed as

Computational BiologyGenome-Wide Association StudySoftwareAfrican PeopleEuropean PeopleHumansPolymorphism, Single NucleotideUK BiobankWorkflow

Identifiers

PMID41838407
PMCPMC13197121

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.