L. A. S. Johnson review no. 9. Construction and annotation of large phylogenetic trees

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

Broad availability of molecular sequence data allows construction of phylogenetic trees with 1000s or even 10 000s of taxa. This paper reviews methodological, technological and empirical issues raised in phylogenetic inference at this scale. Numerous algorithmic and computational challenges have been identified surrounding the core problem of reconstructing large trees accurately from sequence data, but many other obstacles, both upstream and downstream of this step, are less well understood. Before phylogenetic analysis, data must be generated de novo or extracted from existing databases, compiled into blocks of homologous data with controlled properties, aligned, examined for the presence of gene duplications or other kinds of complicating factors, and finally, combined with other evidence via supermatrix or supertree approaches. After phylogenetic analysis, confidence assessments are usually reported, along with other kinds of annotations, such as clade names, or annotations requiring additional inference procedures, such as trait evolution or divergence time estimates. Prospects for partial automation of large-tree construction are also discussed, as well as risks associated with 'outsourcing' phylogenetic inference beyond the systematics community.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)287-301
Number of pages15
JournalAustralian Systematic Botany
Volume20
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2007

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Plant Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'L. A. S. Johnson review no. 9. Construction and annotation of large phylogenetic trees'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this