Clockor2: Inferring Global and Local Strict Molecular Clocks Using Root-to-Tip Regression

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary biology
• Bioinformatics
• Genomics

Background:

• Molecular sequence data from evolving organisms are often time-stamped, enabling molecular clock calibration.
• Root-to-tip (RTT) regression is a key method for evaluating the clock-like behavior of such data.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce Clockor2, a client-side web application for performing RTT regression.
• Provide an efficient tool for fitting local and global molecular clocks to complex genomic datasets.

Main Methods:

• Developed Clockor2 as a client-side web application.
• Implemented RTT regression for molecular clock analysis.
• Optimized for speed and efficiency with large datasets (up to 10^4 tips).

Main Results:

• Clockor2 enables rapid fitting of local and global molecular clocks.
• Demonstrates significant speed improvements over existing RTT regression tools.
• Ensures data privacy through client-side processing, with no data leaving the user's computer.

Conclusions:

• Clockor2 offers an efficient and user-friendly solution for molecular clock analysis.
• The application effectively handles complex genomic datasets and large numbers of tips.
• Its client-side architecture enhances data security and accessibility for researchers.