3. Calculation and visualization of relationship matrix

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Sheng Luan

2026-02-23

Relationship matrices are fundamental tools in quantitative genetics and animal breeding. They quantify the genetic similarity between individuals due to shared ancestry, which is essential for estimating breeding values (BLUP) and managing genetic diversity. The visPedigree package provides efficient tools for calculating various relationship matrices and visualizing them through heatmaps and histograms.

1. Calculating Relationship Matrices with `pedmat()`

The pedmat() function is the primary tool for calculating relationship matrices. It supports both additive and dominance relationship matrices, as well as their inverses.

1.1 Supported Methods

The method parameter in pedmat() determines the type of matrix to calculate:

“A”: Additive relationship matrix (Numerator Relationship Matrix).
“Ainv”: Inverse of the additive relationship matrix.
“D”: Dominance relationship matrix.
“Dinv”: Inverse of the dominance relationship matrix.
“AA”: Additive-by-additive (epistatic) relationship matrix.
“AAinv”: Inverse of the epistatic relationship matrix.
“f”: Inbreeding coefficients vector (uses the same optimized engine as tidyped(..., inbreed = TRUE)).

1.2 Basic Usage

Most calculations require a pedigree tidied by tidyped().

# Load example pedigree and tidy it
data(small_ped)
tped <- tidyped(small_ped)

# Calculate Additive Relationship Matrix (A)
mat_A <- pedmat(tped, method = "A")

# Calculate Dominance Relationship Matrix (D)
mat_D <- pedmat(tped, method = "D")

# Calculate inbreeding coefficients (f)
vec_f <- pedmat(tped, method = "f")

1.3 Sparse Matrix Representation

By default, pedmat() returns a sparse matrix (class dsCMatrix from the Matrix package) for relationship matrices. This is highly memory-efficient for large pedigrees where many individuals are unrelated.

class(mat_A)
#> [1] "dsCMatrix"
#> attr(,"package")
#> [1] "Matrix"

2. Inspecting the Matrix

2.1 Summary Statistics

Use the summary() method to get an overview of the calculated matrix, including size, density, and average relationship.

summary(mat_A)
#> 28 x 28 sparse Matrix of class "dsCMatrix", with 226 entries
#>      i  j         x
#> 1    1  1 1.0000000
#> 2    2  2 1.0000000
#> 3    3  3 1.0000000
#> 4    4  4 1.0000000
#> 5    5  5 1.0000000
#> 6    6  6 1.0000000
#> 7    7  7 1.0000000
#> 8    8  8 1.0000000
#> 9    9  9 1.0000000
#> 10   1 10 0.5000000
#> 11   2 10 0.5000000
#> 12  10 10 1.0000000
#> 13   1 11 0.5000000
#> 14   2 11 0.5000000
#> 15  10 11 0.5000000
#> 16  11 11 1.0000000
#> 17   1 12 0.5000000
#> 18   2 12 0.5000000
#> 19  10 12 0.5000000
#> 20  11 12 0.5000000
#> 21  12 12 1.0000000
#> 22   7 13 0.5000000
#> 23   8 13 0.5000000
#> 24  13 13 1.0000000
#> 25   7 14 0.5000000
#> 26   8 14 0.5000000
#> 27  13 14 0.5000000
#> 28  14 14 1.0000000
#> 29   1 15 0.2500000
#> 30   2 15 0.2500000
#> 31   3 15 0.5000000
#> 32  10 15 0.2500000
#> 33  11 15 0.2500000
#> 34  12 15 0.5000000
#> 35  15 15 1.0000000
#> 36   1 16 0.2500000
#> 37   2 16 0.2500000
#> 38   3 16 0.5000000
#> 39  10 16 0.2500000
#> 40  11 16 0.2500000
#> 41  12 16 0.5000000
#> 42  15 16 0.5000000
#> 43  16 16 1.0000000
#> 44   1 17 0.2500000
#> 45   2 17 0.2500000
#> 46   6 17 0.5000000
#> 47  10 17 0.5000000
#> 48  11 17 0.2500000
#> 49  12 17 0.2500000
#> 50  15 17 0.1250000
#> 51  16 17 0.1250000
#> 52  17 17 1.0000000
#> 53   1 18 0.2500000
#> 54   2 18 0.2500000
#> 55   6 18 0.5000000
#> 56  10 18 0.5000000
#> 57  11 18 0.2500000
#> 58  12 18 0.2500000
#> 59  15 18 0.1250000
#> 60  16 18 0.1250000
#> 61  17 18 0.5000000
#> 62  18 18 1.0000000
#> 63   1 19 0.2500000
#> 64   2 19 0.2500000
#> 65   6 19 0.5000000
#> 66  10 19 0.5000000
#> 67  11 19 0.2500000
#> 68  12 19 0.2500000
#> 69  15 19 0.1250000
#> 70  16 19 0.1250000
#> 71  17 19 0.5000000
#> 72  18 19 0.5000000
#> 73  19 19 1.0000000
#> 74   5 20 0.5000000
#> 75   7 20 0.2500000
#> 76   8 20 0.2500000
#> 77  13 20 0.2500000
#> 78  14 20 0.5000000
#> 79  20 20 1.0000000
#> 80   5 21 0.5000000
#> 81   7 21 0.2500000
#> 82   8 21 0.2500000
#> 83  13 21 0.2500000
#> 84  14 21 0.5000000
#> 85  20 21 0.5000000
#> 86  21 21 1.0000000
#> 87   1 22 0.1250000
#> 88   2 22 0.1250000
#> 89   5 22 0.2500000
#> 90   6 22 0.2500000
#> 91   7 22 0.1250000
#> 92   8 22 0.1250000
#> 93  10 22 0.2500000
#> 94  11 22 0.1250000
#> 95  12 22 0.1250000
#> 96  13 22 0.1250000
#> 97  14 22 0.2500000
#> 98  15 22 0.0625000
#> 99  16 22 0.0625000
#> 100 17 22 0.5000000
#> 101 18 22 0.2500000
#> 102 19 22 0.2500000
#> 103 20 22 0.2500000
#> 104 21 22 0.5000000
#> 105 22 22 1.0000000
#> 106  1 23 0.2500000
#> 107  2 23 0.2500000
#> 108  3 23 0.2500000
#> 109  6 23 0.2500000
#> 110 10 23 0.3750000
#> 111 11 23 0.2500000
#> 112 12 23 0.3750000
#> 113 15 23 0.5625000
#> 114 16 23 0.3125000
#> 115 17 23 0.3125000
#> 116 18 23 0.3125000
#> 117 19 23 0.5625000
#> 118 22 23 0.1562500
#> 119 23 23 1.0625000
#> 120  1 24 0.1250000
#> 121  2 24 0.1250000
#> 122  3 24 0.2500000
#> 123  4 24 0.5000000
#> 124 10 24 0.1250000
#> 125 11 24 0.1250000
#> 126 12 24 0.2500000
#> 127 15 24 0.2500000
#> 128 16 24 0.5000000
#> 129 17 24 0.0625000
#> 130 18 24 0.0625000
#> 131 19 24 0.0625000
#> 132 22 24 0.0312500
#> 133 23 24 0.1562500
#> 134 24 24 1.0000000
#> 135  1 25 0.1875000
#> 136  2 25 0.1875000
#> 137  3 25 0.1250000
#> 138  5 25 0.1250000
#> 139  6 25 0.2500000
#> 140  7 25 0.0625000
#> 141  8 25 0.0625000
#> 142 10 25 0.3125000
#> 143 11 25 0.1875000
#> 144 12 25 0.2500000
#> 145 13 25 0.0625000
#> 146 14 25 0.1250000
#> 147 15 25 0.3125000
#> 148 16 25 0.1875000
#> 149 17 25 0.4062500
#> 150 18 25 0.2812500
#> 151 19 25 0.4062500
#> 152 20 25 0.1250000
#> 153 21 25 0.2500000
#> 154 22 25 0.5781250
#> 155 23 25 0.6093750
#> 156 24 25 0.0937500
#> 157 25 25 1.0781250
#> 158  1 26 0.0625000
#> 159  2 26 0.0625000
#> 160  3 26 0.1250000
#> 161  4 26 0.2500000
#> 162  9 26 0.5000000
#> 163 10 26 0.0625000
#> 164 11 26 0.0625000
#> 165 12 26 0.1250000
#> 166 15 26 0.1250000
#> 167 16 26 0.2500000
#> 168 17 26 0.0312500
#> 169 18 26 0.0312500
#> 170 19 26 0.0312500
#> 171 22 26 0.0156250
#> 172 23 26 0.0781250
#> 173 24 26 0.5000000
#> 174 25 26 0.0468750
#> 175 26 26 1.0000000
#> 176  1 27 0.0937500
#> 177  2 27 0.0937500
#> 178  3 27 0.0625000
#> 179  5 27 0.0625000
#> 180  6 27 0.1250000
#> 181  7 27 0.5312500
#> 182  8 27 0.0312500
#> 183 10 27 0.1562500
#> 184 11 27 0.0937500
#> 185 12 27 0.1250000
#> 186 13 27 0.2812500
#> 187 14 27 0.3125000
#> 188 15 27 0.1562500
#> 189 16 27 0.0937500
#> 190 17 27 0.2031250
#> 191 18 27 0.1406250
#> 192 19 27 0.2031250
#> 193 20 27 0.1875000
#> 194 21 27 0.2500000
#> 195 22 27 0.3515625
#> 196 23 27 0.3046875
#> 197 24 27 0.0468750
#> 198 25 27 0.5703125
#> 199 26 27 0.0234375
#> 200 27 27 1.0312500
#> 201  1 28 0.0937500
#> 202  2 28 0.0937500
#> 203  3 28 0.0625000
#> 204  5 28 0.0625000
#> 205  6 28 0.1250000
#> 206  7 28 0.5312500
#> 207  8 28 0.0312500
#> 208 10 28 0.1562500
#> 209 11 28 0.0937500
#> 210 12 28 0.1250000
#> 211 13 28 0.2812500
#> 212 14 28 0.3125000
#> 213 15 28 0.1562500
#> 214 16 28 0.0937500
#> 215 17 28 0.2031250
#> 216 18 28 0.1406250
#> 217 19 28 0.2031250
#> 218 20 28 0.1875000
#> 219 21 28 0.2500000
#> 220 22 28 0.3515625
#> 221 23 28 0.3046875
#> 222 24 28 0.0468750
#> 223 25 28 0.5703125
#> 224 26 28 0.0234375
#> 225 27 28 0.5507812
#> 226 28 28 1.0312500

2.2 Querying Specific Relationships

Instead of manually indexing the matrix, you can use query_relationship() to retrieve coefficients by individual IDs.

# Query relationship between Z1 and Z2
query_relationship(mat_A, "Z1", "Z2")
#> [1] 0.5507812

# Query multiple pairs
query_relationship(mat_A, c("Z1", "A"), c("Z2", "B"))
#> 2 x 2 sparse Matrix of class "dgCMatrix"
#>           Z2       B
#> Z1 0.5507812 0.09375
#> A  0.0937500 .

3. Compact Mode for Large Pedigrees

For large pedigrees with many full-sibling families (common in aquatic breeding populations), pedmat() can merge full siblings into representative nodes to save memory and time.

3.1 Using `compact = TRUE`

When compact = TRUE, the matrix is calculated for unique representative individuals from each full-sib family.

# Calculate compacted A matrix
mat_compact <- pedmat(tped, method = "A", compact = TRUE)

# The result is a 'pedmat' object containing the compacted matrix
print(mat_compact)
#> 27 x 27 sparse Matrix of class "dsCMatrix"
#>   [[ suppressing 27 column names 'A', 'B', 'F' ... ]]
#>                                                                                
#> A  1.00000 .       .      .    .      .     .       .       .   0.50000 0.50000
#> B  .       1.00000 .      .    .      .     .       .       .   0.50000 0.50000
#> F  .       .       1.0000 .    .      .     .       .       .   .       .      
#> I  .       .       .      1.00 .      .     .       .       .   .       .      
#> J1 .       .       .      .    1.0000 .     .       .       .   .       .      
#> J2 .       .       .      .    .      1.000 .       .       .   .       .      
#> N  .       .       .      .    .      .     1.00000 .       .   .       .      
#> O  .       .       .      .    .      .     .       1.00000 .   .       .      
#> R  .       .       .      .    .      .     .       .       1.0 .       .      
#> C  0.50000 0.50000 .      .    .      .     .       .       .   1.00000 0.50000
#> D  0.50000 0.50000 .      .    .      .     .       .       .   0.50000 1.00000
#> E  0.50000 0.50000 .      .    .      .     .       .       .   0.50000 0.50000
#> P  .       .       .      .    .      .     0.50000 0.50000 .   .       .      
#> Q  .       .       .      .    .      .     0.50000 0.50000 .   .       .      
#> G  0.25000 0.25000 0.5000 .    .      .     .       .       .   0.25000 0.25000
#> H  0.25000 0.25000 0.5000 .    .      .     .       .       .   0.25000 0.25000
#> K  0.25000 0.25000 .      .    .      0.500 .       .       .   0.50000 0.25000
#> L  0.25000 0.25000 .      .    .      0.500 .       .       .   0.50000 0.25000
#> M  0.25000 0.25000 .      .    .      0.500 .       .       .   0.50000 0.25000
#> S  .       .       .      .    0.5000 .     0.25000 0.25000 .   .       .      
#> T  .       .       .      .    0.5000 .     0.25000 0.25000 .   .       .      
#> U  0.12500 0.12500 .      .    0.2500 0.250 0.12500 0.12500 .   0.25000 0.12500
#> V  0.25000 0.25000 0.2500 .    .      0.250 .       .       .   0.37500 0.25000
#> W  0.12500 0.12500 0.2500 0.50 .      .     .       .       .   0.12500 0.12500
#> X  0.18750 0.18750 0.1250 .    0.1250 0.250 0.06250 0.06250 .   0.31250 0.18750
#> Y  0.06250 0.06250 0.1250 0.25 .      .     .       .       0.5 0.06250 0.06250
#> Z1 0.09375 0.09375 0.0625 .    0.0625 0.125 0.53125 0.03125 .   0.15625 0.09375
#>                                                                               
#> A  0.500 .       .      0.25000 0.25000 0.250000 0.250000 0.250000 .      .   
#> B  0.500 .       .      0.25000 0.25000 0.250000 0.250000 0.250000 .      .   
#> F  .     .       .      0.50000 0.50000 .        .        .        .      .   
#> I  .     .       .      .       .       .        .        .        .      .   
#> J1 .     .       .      .       .       .        .        .        0.5000 0.50
#> J2 .     .       .      .       .       0.500000 0.500000 0.500000 .      .   
#> N  .     0.50000 0.5000 .       .       .        .        .        0.2500 0.25
#> O  .     0.50000 0.5000 .       .       .        .        .        0.2500 0.25
#> R  .     .       .      .       .       .        .        .        .      .   
#> C  0.500 .       .      0.25000 0.25000 0.500000 0.500000 0.500000 .      .   
#> D  0.500 .       .      0.25000 0.25000 0.250000 0.250000 0.250000 .      .   
#> E  1.000 .       .      0.50000 0.50000 0.250000 0.250000 0.250000 .      .   
#> P  .     1.00000 0.5000 .       .       .        .        .        0.2500 0.25
#> Q  .     0.50000 1.0000 .       .       .        .        .        0.5000 0.50
#> G  0.500 .       .      1.00000 0.50000 0.125000 0.125000 0.125000 .      .   
#> H  0.500 .       .      0.50000 1.00000 0.125000 0.125000 0.125000 .      .   
#> K  0.250 .       .      0.12500 0.12500 1.000000 0.500000 0.500000 .      .   
#> L  0.250 .       .      0.12500 0.12500 0.500000 1.000000 0.500000 .      .   
#> M  0.250 .       .      0.12500 0.12500 0.500000 0.500000 1.000000 .      .   
#> S  .     0.25000 0.5000 .       .       .        .        .        1.0000 0.50
#> T  .     0.25000 0.5000 .       .       .        .        .        0.5000 1.00
#> U  0.125 0.12500 0.2500 0.06250 0.06250 0.500000 0.250000 0.250000 0.2500 0.50
#> V  0.375 .       .      0.56250 0.31250 0.312500 0.312500 0.562500 .      .   
#> W  0.250 .       .      0.25000 0.50000 0.062500 0.062500 0.062500 .      .   
#> X  0.250 0.06250 0.1250 0.31250 0.18750 0.406250 0.281250 0.406250 0.1250 0.25
#> Y  0.125 .       .      0.12500 0.25000 0.031250 0.031250 0.031250 .      .   
#> Z1 0.125 0.28125 0.3125 0.15625 0.09375 0.203125 0.140625 0.203125 0.1875 0.25
#>                                                              
#> A  0.1250000 0.2500000 0.125000 0.1875000 0.0625000 0.0937500
#> B  0.1250000 0.2500000 0.125000 0.1875000 0.0625000 0.0937500
#> F  .         0.2500000 0.250000 0.1250000 0.1250000 0.0625000
#> I  .         .         0.500000 .         0.2500000 .        
#> J1 0.2500000 .         .        0.1250000 .         0.0625000
#> J2 0.2500000 0.2500000 .        0.2500000 .         0.1250000
#> N  0.1250000 .         .        0.0625000 .         0.5312500
#> O  0.1250000 .         .        0.0625000 .         0.0312500
#> R  .         .         .        .         0.5000000 .        
#> C  0.2500000 0.3750000 0.125000 0.3125000 0.0625000 0.1562500
#> D  0.1250000 0.2500000 0.125000 0.1875000 0.0625000 0.0937500
#> E  0.1250000 0.3750000 0.250000 0.2500000 0.1250000 0.1250000
#> P  0.1250000 .         .        0.0625000 .         0.2812500
#> Q  0.2500000 .         .        0.1250000 .         0.3125000
#> G  0.0625000 0.5625000 0.250000 0.3125000 0.1250000 0.1562500
#> H  0.0625000 0.3125000 0.500000 0.1875000 0.2500000 0.0937500
#> K  0.5000000 0.3125000 0.062500 0.4062500 0.0312500 0.2031250
#> L  0.2500000 0.3125000 0.062500 0.2812500 0.0312500 0.1406250
#> M  0.2500000 0.5625000 0.062500 0.4062500 0.0312500 0.2031250
#> S  0.2500000 .         .        0.1250000 .         0.1875000
#> T  0.5000000 .         .        0.2500000 .         0.2500000
#> U  1.0000000 0.1562500 0.031250 0.5781250 0.0156250 0.3515625
#> V  0.1562500 1.0625000 0.156250 0.6093750 0.0781250 0.3046875
#> W  0.0312500 0.1562500 1.000000 0.0937500 0.5000000 0.0468750
#> X  0.5781250 0.6093750 0.093750 1.0781250 0.0468750 0.5703125
#> Y  0.0156250 0.0781250 0.500000 0.0468750 1.0000000 0.0234375
#> Z1 0.3515625 0.3046875 0.046875 0.5703125 0.0234375 1.0312500

3.2 Expanding and Querying Compacted Matrices

If you need the full matrix after a compact calculation, use expand_pedmat(). For retrieving specific values, query_relationship() handles both standard and compact objects transparently.

# Expand to full 28x28 matrix
mat_full <- expand_pedmat(mat_compact)
dim(mat_full)
#> [1] 28 28

# Query still works the same way
query_relationship(mat_compact, "Z1", "Z2")
#> [1] 0.5507812

3.3 When to Use Compact Mode

Compact mode is highly recommended for:

Large Pedigrees: More than 5,000 individuals with substantial full-sibling groups.
High-fecundity species: Such as aquatic animals or plants, where families often have hundreds or thousands of offspring.
Memory-limited environments: When the full matrix exceeds available RAM.

Pedigree Size	Full-Sib Proportion	Recommended Mode
< 1,000	Any	Standard
> 5,000	< 20%	Standard / Compact
> 5,000	> 20%	Compact

4. Visualizing Relationship Matrices with `vismat()`

Visualization helps in understanding population structure, detecting family clusters, and checking the distribution of genetic relationships.

4.1 Relationship Heatmaps

The “heatmap” type (default) uses a Nature Genetics style color palette (White-Orange-Red) to display relationships.

# Heatmap of the A matrix
vismat(mat_A)

Reordering and Clustering

Setting reorder = TRUE (default) performs hierarchical clustering to group related individuals together.

Grouping by Labels

You can aggregate relationships by groups (e.g., generations) using the grouping parameter.

# Mean relationship between generations
vismat(mat_A, ped = tped, grouping = "Gen")
#> Aggregating 28 individuals into 6 groups based on 'Gen'...

4.2 Inbreeding and Kinship Histograms

The “histogram” type displays the distribution of relationship coefficients (lower triangle) or inbreeding coefficients.

# Distribution of relationship coefficients
vismat(mat_A, type = "histogram")

5. Performance Considerations

Calculation and visualization of large matrices can be resource-intensive. vismat() includes several optimizations for large datasets:

N > 2000: For heatmaps larger than 2000x2000, labels are suppressed.
N > 500: For heatmaps larger than 500x500, reordering is disabled by default to save time.
Compact Pedigree: Using a tidied pedigree with compact = TRUE is recommended for high-fecundity species.

See Also: - vignette("tidy-pedigree", package = "visPedigree") - vignette("draw-pedigree", package = "visPedigree")

These binaries (installable software) and packages are in development.
They may not be fully stable and should be used with caution. We make no claims about them.

3. Calculation and visualization of relationship matrix

Sheng Luan

2026-02-23

1. Calculating Relationship Matrices with pedmat()

1.1 Supported Methods

1.2 Basic Usage

1.3 Sparse Matrix Representation

2. Inspecting the Matrix

2.1 Summary Statistics

2.2 Querying Specific Relationships

3. Compact Mode for Large Pedigrees

3.1 Using compact = TRUE

3.2 Expanding and Querying Compacted Matrices

3.3 When to Use Compact Mode

4. Visualizing Relationship Matrices with vismat()

4.1 Relationship Heatmaps

Reordering and Clustering

Grouping by Labels

4.2 Inbreeding and Kinship Histograms

5. Performance Considerations

1. Calculating Relationship Matrices with `pedmat()`

3.1 Using `compact = TRUE`

4. Visualizing Relationship Matrices with `vismat()`