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Related Experiment Videos

Profiling phylogenetic informativeness.

Jeffrey P Townsend1

  • 1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA. Jeffrey.Townsend@Yale.edu

Systematic Biology
|April 28, 2007
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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A new measure quantifies character informativeness for phylogenetic studies. This helps evaluate gene utility for resolving evolutionary relationships and identifying rapid radiations, optimizing experimental design.

Area of Science:

  • Phylogenetics
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genomics

Background:

  • Phylogenetic experimental design faces challenges in resolving evolutionary relationships.
  • Controversies exist regarding character informativeness, sampling strategies, and distinguishing rapid radiations from lack of phylogenetic signal.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To formulate a quantitative measure of phylogenetic informativeness for characters across historical epochs.
  • To derive the optimal evolutionary rate for resolving phylogenetic polytomies.
  • To enable cost-effectiveness and utility comparisons for phylogenetic data.

Main Methods:

  • Developed a measure of phylogenetic informativeness based on evolutionary rates.
  • Derived optimal evolutionary rates for resolving dated four-taxon polytomies.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Scaled and normalized informativeness profiles across evolutionary history.
  • Applied the method to profile genes (BRCA1, RAG1, GHR, c-myc) using muroid rodent data.

    • Main Results:

    • Calculated informativeness per base pair for cost-effectiveness of character sampling.
    • Calculated informativeness per million years for comparing gene utility in rapid radiations.
    • Demonstrated differential power of genes to resolve branching orders across major evolutionary epochs.
    • Provided a quantitative measure for evaluating phylogenetic power and soft polytomies.

    Conclusions:

    • The developed measure provides novel insights for evaluating phylogenetic experiments and optimizing data collection.
    • It aids in assessing the utility of adding characters and determining appropriate phylogenetic power for rapid radiations.
    • Offers a quantitative capacity for genes to resolve phylogenetic soft polytomies.