Causal inference of post-transcriptional regulation timelines from long-read sequencing in Arabidopsis thaliana

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Autori principali: Martos, Rubén, Ambroise, Christophe, Rigaill, Guillem
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Martos, Rubén
Ambroise, Christophe
Rigaill, Guillem
author_facet Martos, Rubén
Ambroise, Christophe
Rigaill, Guillem
contents We propose a novel framework for reconstructing the chronology of genetic regulation using causal inference based on Pearl's theory. The approach proceeds in three main stages: causal discovery, causal inference, and chronology construction. We apply it to the ndhB and ndhD genes of the chloroplast in Arabidopsis thaliana, generating four alternative maturation timeline models per gene, each derived from a different causal discovery algorithm (HC, PC, LiNGAM, or NOTEARS). Two methodological challenges are addressed: the presence of missing data, handled via an EM algorithm that jointly imputes missing values and estimates the Bayesian network, and the selection of the $\ell_1$-regularization parameter in NOTEARS, for which we introduce a stability selection strategy. The resulting causal models consistently outperform reference chronologies in terms of both reliability and model fit. Moreover, by combining causal reasoning with domain expertise, the framework enables the formulation of testable hypotheses and the design of targeted experimental interventions grounded in theoretical predictions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_12504
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Causal inference of post-transcriptional regulation timelines from long-read sequencing in Arabidopsis thaliana
Martos, Rubén
Ambroise, Christophe
Rigaill, Guillem
Methodology
We propose a novel framework for reconstructing the chronology of genetic regulation using causal inference based on Pearl's theory. The approach proceeds in three main stages: causal discovery, causal inference, and chronology construction. We apply it to the ndhB and ndhD genes of the chloroplast in Arabidopsis thaliana, generating four alternative maturation timeline models per gene, each derived from a different causal discovery algorithm (HC, PC, LiNGAM, or NOTEARS). Two methodological challenges are addressed: the presence of missing data, handled via an EM algorithm that jointly imputes missing values and estimates the Bayesian network, and the selection of the $\ell_1$-regularization parameter in NOTEARS, for which we introduce a stability selection strategy. The resulting causal models consistently outperform reference chronologies in terms of both reliability and model fit. Moreover, by combining causal reasoning with domain expertise, the framework enables the formulation of testable hypotheses and the design of targeted experimental interventions grounded in theoretical predictions.
title Causal inference of post-transcriptional regulation timelines from long-read sequencing in Arabidopsis thaliana
topic Methodology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.12504