RFMix-reader
RFMix-reader
is a Python package designed to efficiently read and process output
files generated by RFMix
, a popular tool
for estimating local ancestry in admixed populations. The package employs a lazy
loading approach, which minimizes memory consumption by reading only the loci that
are accessed by the user, rather than loading the entire dataset into memory at
once. Additionally, we leverage GPU acceleration to improve computational speed.
Install
rfmix-reader
can be installed using pip:
pip install rfmix-reader
GPU Acceleration:
rfmix-reader
leverages GPU acceleration for improved performance. To use this
functionality, you will need to install the following libraries for your specific
CUDA version:
RAPIDS
: Refer to official installation guide here
PyTorch
: Installation instructions can be found here
Additional Notes:
- We have not tested installation with
Docker
or Conda
environemnts. Compatibility
may vary.
- If you do not have GPU, you can still use the basic functionality of
rfmix-reader
.
This is still much faster than processing the files with stardard scripting.
Key Features
Lazy Loading
- Reads data on-the-fly as requested, reducing memory footprint.
- Ideal for working with large RFMix output files that may not fit entirely in memory.
Efficient Data Access
- Provides convenient access to specific loci or regions of interest.
- Allows for selective loading of data, enabling faster processing times.
Seamless Integration
- Designed to work seamlessly with existing Python data analysis workflows.
- Facilitates downstream analysis and manipulation of
RFMix
output data.
Loci Imputation
- Designed to impute local ancestry loci to a larger genotype data genomic positions.
- Array-based data for ease of integration with downstream analysis.
Whether you are working with large-scale genomic datasets or have limited
computational resources, RFMix-reader
offers an efficient and memory-conscious
solution for reading and processing RFMix
output files. Its lazy loading approach
ensures optimal resource utilization, making it a valuable tool for researchers
and bioinformaticians working with admixed population data.
Simulation Data
Simulation data is available for testing two and three population admixture on
Synapse: syn61691659.
Usage
This works similarly to pandas-plink
:
Two Population Admixture Example
This is a two-part process.
Generate Binary Files
To reduce computational time and memory, we leverage binary files.
While RFMix
does not generate these directly, we provide a function
for their creation: create_binaries
. This function can also be invoked
via the command line:
create-binaries [-h] [--version] [--binary_dir BINARY_DIR] file_path
.
create-binaries two_pops/out/
This will generate the binary files in a location './binary_files" as
--binary_dir
is an optional parameter.
from rfmix_reader import create_binaries
file_path = "two_pops/out/"
binary_dir = "./binary_files"
create_binaries(file_path, binary_dir=binary_dir)
You can also do this on the fly.
from rfmix_reader import read_rfmix
file_path = "two_pops/out/"
binary_dir = "./binary_files"
loci, rf_q, admix = read_rfmix(file_path, binary_dir=binary_dir,
generate_binary=True)
We do not have this turned on by default, as it is the
rate limiting step. It can take upwards of 20 to 25 minutes
to run depending on *fb.tsv
file size.
Main Function
Once binary files are generated, you can the main function
to process the RFMix results. With GPU this takes less than
5 minutes.
from rfmix_reader import read_rfmix
file_path = "two_pops/out/"
loci, rf_q, admix = read_rfmix(file_path)
Note: ./binary_files
is the default for binary_dir
,
so this is an optional parameter.
Three Population Admixture Example
RFMix-reader
is adaptable for as many population admixtures as
needed.
from rfmix_reader import read_rfmix
file_path = "examples/three_popuations/out/"
binary_dir = "./binary_files"
loci, rf_q, admix = read_rfmix(file_path, binary_dir=binary_dir,
generate_binary=True)
Loci Imputation
Imputing local ancestry loci information to genotype variant locations improves
integration of the local ancestry information with genotype data. As such, we provide
the interpolate_array
function to efficiently interpolate missing values when local
ancestry loci information is converted to more variable genotype variant locations.
It leverages the power of Zarr
arrays, making it suitable for handling substantial datasets while managing memory
usage effectively.
Features
- CUDA Acceleration: Uses CUDA for performance enhancement when available;
otherwise, it defaults to
NumPy
.
- Chunk Processing: Processes data in manageable chunks to optimize memory usage,
making it ideal for large datasets.
- Progress Monitoring: Displays progress through a
tqdm
progress bar, providing
real-time feedback during execution.
- Column-wise Interpolation: Employs the
_interpolate_col
function to perform
interpolation along each column of the dataset.
Example Usage
import pandas as pd
import dask.array as da
variant_loci_df = pd.DataFrame({'chrom': ['1', '1', '1', '1'],
'pos': [100, 200, 300, 400],
'i': [1, NA, NA, 2]})
admix = da.random.random((2, 3))
z = interpolate_array(variant_loci_df, admix, '/path/to/output', chunk_size=100,
batch_size=100)
print(z.shape)
Example Preprocessing Functions
The helper functions _load_genotypes
and _load_admix
are designed to facilitate
the loading of loci and genotype data for constructing the variant_loci_df
DataFrame.
_load_genotypes(plink_prefix_path)
: This function uses the tensorqtl
library to read genotype data from PLINK files (PGEN
). It returns both the
loaded genotype data and a DataFrame containing variant information, which
includes chromosome and position details. The chromosome identifiers are
formatted to include the "chr" prefix for consistency.
_load_admix(prefix_path, binary_dir)
: This function employs the
rfmix_reader
library to load local ancestry data from specified paths. It
reads the ancestry information into a suitable format for further processing,
enabling integration with genotype data.
These functions ensure accurate loading and formatting of variant and local ancestry
data, streamlining subsequent analyses.
def _load_genotypes(plink_prefix_path):
from tensorqtl import pgen
pgr = pgen.PgenReader(plink_prefix_path)
variant_df = pgr.variant_df
variant_df.loc[:, "chrom"] = "chr" + variant_df.chrom
return pgr.load_genotypes(), variant_df
def _load_admix(prefix_path, binary_dir):
from rfmix_reader import read_rfmix
return read_rfmix(prefix_path, binary_dir=binary_dir)
def __testing__():
basename = "/projects/b1213/large_projects/brain_coloc_app/input"
prefix_path = f"{basename}/local_ancestry_rfmix/_m/"
binary_dir = f"{basename}/local_ancestry_rfmix/_m/binary_files/"
loci, _, admix = _load_admix(prefix_path, binary_dir)
loci.rename(columns={"chromosome": "chrom",
"physical_position": "pos"},
inplace=True)
plink_prefix = f"{basename}/genotypes/TOPMed_LIBD"
_, variant_df = _load_genotypes(plink_prefix)
variant_df = variant_df.drop_duplicates(subset=["chrom", "pos"],
keep='first')
variant_loci_df = variant_df.merge(loci.to_pandas(), on=["chrom", "pos"],
how="outer", indicator=True)\
.loc[:, ["chrom", "pos", "i", "_merge"]]
data_path = f"{basename}/local_ancestry_rfmix/_m"
z = interpolate_array(variant_loci_df, admix, data_path)
arr_geno = arr_mod.array(variant_loci_df[~(variant_loci_df["_merge"] == "right_only")].index)
new_admix = z[arr_geno.get(), :]
Note: Following imputation, variant_df
will include genomic positions for
both local ancestry and genotype data.
Author(s)
Citation
If you use this software in your work, please cite it.

Benjamin, K. J. M. (2024). RFMix-reader (Version v0.1.15) [Computer software].
https://github.com/heart-gen/rfmix_reader
Kynon JM Benjamin. "RFMix-reader: Accelerated reading and processing for
local ancestry studies." bioRxiv. 2024.
DOI: 10.1101/2024.07.13.603370.
Funding
This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health,
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
K99MD016964 / R00MD016964.