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Lack of evidence for cospeciation between retroelements and their hosts
S Kossida1, P H Harvey, P M de A Zanotto
1Department of Zoology, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3PS, United Kingdom. skossida@fas.harvard.edu
Journal of Molecular Evolution
|February 23, 2000
Abstract:
Some literature is available on cospeciation and on reconstructing the phylogenetic relationships of retroelements, but relatively little consideration has been given to whether there is cospeciation between retroelements and their hosts. Here we address this problem in detail. We conclude that there is no significant evidence for cospeciation between retroelements and their hosts. This conclusion was reached by noting that the branching order of the two phylogenies was no more similar than would be expected by chance.