Topological support and data quality can only be assessed through multiple tests in reviewing Blattodea phylogeny

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary Biology
• Molecular Systematics
• Bioinformatics

Background:

• Assessing molecular phylogenies is challenging due to data heterogeneity and volume.
• Traditional methods like bootstrap frequencies and Bayesian posterior probabilities are often insufficient alone.
• Existing data and tree quality assessment methods are underutilized.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate that a single qualitative analysis is insufficient for robust phylogenetic hypothesis support.
• To establish a comprehensive approach for assessing phylogenetic tree support and data quality.
• To investigate the phylogeny of Blattodea using multiple molecular markers and rigorous testing.

Main Methods:

• Inferred the phylogeny of Blattodea using six molecular markers.
• Applied internode certainty, bootstrap scores, alignment permutations, and approximately unbiased (AU) tests for relationship support.
• Utilized Lento plots, mutation-saturation plots, and homoplasy calculations for locus quality assessment and bias detection.

Main Results:

• High support was found for the termite phylogeny and the position of Lamproblattidae.
• Low support was observed for the positions of Anaplectidae, Corydioidea, and the Blaberoidea phylogeny.
• Identified potential data biases and long branch attraction through locus quality assessments.

Conclusions:

• Multiple tests and metrics are essential for a thorough assessment of phylogenetic tree support and data robustness.
• A combined approach enhances confidence in inferred evolutionary relationships.
• This study provides a robust phylogenetic framework for Blattodea.