[Calculation of specific evolution rate of proteins based on phylogenetic]

A method of calculating specific protein evolution distance and evolution rate is presented. This is based on the reconstruction of the phylogenetic tree and on the deduction of ancestral sequences according to temporally homologous protein sequences. The evolution distance and evolution rate are calculated from the difference percentage of the sequence between the temporal and deduced ancestral sequences. A comparison with Dayoff simulation method and an example of using it to calculate the specific evolution rates of mammalian erythropoietin. The method presented here would be specially useful under certain circumstances.