Terraces in phylogenetic tree space

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

97 Scopus citations

Abstract

A key step in assembling the tree of life is the construction of species-rich phylogenies from multilocus - but often incomplete - sequence data sets. We describe previously unknown structure in the landscape of solutions to the tree reconstruction problem, comprising sometimes vast "terraces" of trees with identical quality, arranged on islands of phylogenetically similar trees. Phylogenetic ambiguity within a terrace can be characterized efficiently and then ameliorated by new algorithms for obtaining a terrace's maximum-agreement subtree or by identifying the smallest set of new targets for additional sequencing. Algorithms to find optimal trees or estimate Bayesian posterior tree distributions may need to navigate strategically in the neighborhood of large terraces in tree space.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)448-450
Number of pages3
JournalScience
Volume333
Issue number6041
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 22 2011

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Terraces in phylogenetic tree space'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this