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Updated: Nov 15, 2025
08:57
Using Phylogenetic Analysis to Investigate Eukaryotic Gene Origin
Published on: August 14, 2018
16.2K
High-throughput methods for efficiently building massive phylogenies from natural history collections
Ryan A Folk1, Heather R Kates2, Raphael LaFrance2
1Department of Biological Sciences Mississippi State University Mississippi State Mississippi USA.
Applications in Plant Sciences
|March 8, 2021
Summary
A new high-throughput method enables large-scale phylogenomic studies using herbarium specimens. This approach unlocks vast taxonomic sampling potential for exploring the tree of life with numerous genetic loci.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Genomics
- Bioinformatics
Background:
- Phylogenetic studies are often limited by small datasets from public repositories.
- A scalable protocol for phylogenomic sampling from specimens is lacking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and present a high-throughput, collections-based sampling-to-sequencing protocol.
- To enable broader exploration of the tree of life using numerous genetic loci.
Main Methods:
- Integrated Specimen-to-Laboratory Information Management System (SLIMS) for workflow tracking.
- QR codes and taxonomic database for efficient specimen sampling and data capture.
- High-throughput DNA extraction and sequencing protocol for herbarium samples.
Main Results:
- Applied workflow to ~15,000 species.
- Generated a dataset with ~50% taxonomic representation of the nitrogen-fixing clade of angiosperms.
Conclusions:
- The protocol is scalable to thousands of species and adaptable to other collection types.
- Herbaria are valuable, underutilized resources for large-scale taxonomic sampling.
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