Mapping Phylogenetic Trees to Reveal Distinct Patterns of Evolution

We present a metric-based method for comparing trees which extracts distinct alternative evolutionary relationships embedded in data. We demonstrate detection and resolution of phylogenetic uncertainty in a recent study of anole lizards, leading to alternate hypotheses about their evolutionary relationships. We use our approach to compare trees derived from different genes of Ebolavirus and find that the VP30 gene has a distinct phylogenetic signature composed of three alternatives that differ in the deep branching structure.
Key words: phylogenetics, evolution, tree metrics, genetics, sequencing.

Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution - September 15, 2016 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Kendall, M., Colijn, C. Tags: Methods Source Type: research