Hitch-hiking: a parallel heuristic search strategy, applied to the phylogeny problem.

The article introduces a parallel heuristic search strategy ("Hitch-hiking") which can be used in conjunction with other random-walk heuristic search strategies. It is applied to an artificial phylogeny problem, in which character sequences are evolved using pseudo-random numbers from a hypothetical ancestral sequence. The objective function to be minimized is the minimum number of character-state changes required on a binary tree that could account for the sequences observed at the tips (leaves) of the tree -- the Maximum Parsimony criterion. The Hitch-hiking strategy is shown to be useful in that it is robust and that on average the solutions found using the strategy are better than those found without. Also the strategy can dynamically provide information on the characteristics of the landscape of the problem. I argue that Hitch-hiking as a scheme for parallelization of existing heuristic search strategies is of potentially very general use, in many areas of combinatorial optimization.     

Non-hereditary Maximum Parsimony trees

In this paper, we investigate a conjecture by Arndt von Haeseler concerning the Maximum Parsimony method for phylogenetic estimation, which was published by the Newton Institute in Cambridge on a list of open phylogenetic problems in 2007. This conjecture deals with the question whether Maximum Parsimony trees are hereditary. The conjecture suggests that a Maximum Parsimony tree for a particular (DNA) alignment necessarily has subtrees of all possible sizes which are most parsimonious for the corresponding subalignments. We answer the conjecture affirmatively for binary alignments on 5 taxa but also show how to construct examples for which Maximum Parsimony trees are not hereditary. Apart from showing that a most parsimonious tree cannot generally be reduced to a most parsimonious tree on fewer taxa, we also show that compatible most parsimonious quartets do not have to provide a most parsimonious supertree. Last, we show that our results can be generalized to Maximum Likelihood for certain nucleotide substitution models.     

Analysis of long branch extraction and long branch shortening

Background

Long branch attraction (LBA) is a problem that afflicts both the parsimony and maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis techniques. Research has shown that parsimony is particularly vulnerable to inferring the wrong tree in Felsenstein topologies. The long branch extraction method is a procedure to detect a data set suffering from this problem so that Maximum Likelihood could be used instead of Maximum Parsimony.

Results

The long branch extraction method has been well cited and used by many authors in their analysis but no strong validation has been performed as to its accuracy. We performed such an analysis by an extensive search of the branch length search space under two topologies of six taxa, a Felsenstein-like topology and Farris-like topology. We also examine a long branch shortening method.

Conclusions

The long branch extraction method seems to mask the majority of the search space rendering it ineffective as a detection method of LBA. A proposed alternative, the long branch shortening method, is also ineffective in predicting long branch attraction for all tree topologies.

     

A class representative model for Pure Parsimony Haplotyping under uncertain data

The Pure Parsimony Haplotyping (PPH) problem is a NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem that consists of finding the minimum number of haplotypes necessary to explain a given set of genotypes. PPH has attracted more and more attention in recent years due to its importance in analysis of many fine-scale genetic data. Its application fields range from mapping complex disease genes to inferring population histories, passing through designing drugs, functional genomics and pharmacogenetics. In this article we investigate, for the first time, a recent version of PPH called the Pure Parsimony Haplotype problem under Uncertain Data (PPH-UD). This version mainly arises when the input genotypes are not accurate, i.e., when some single nucleotide polymorphisms are missing or affected by errors. We propose an exact approach to solution of PPH-UD based on an extended version of Catanzaro et al.[1] class representative model for PPH, currently the state-of-the-art integer programming model for PPH. The model is efficient, accurate, compact, polynomial-sized, easy to implement, solvable with any solver for mixed integer programming, and usable in all those cases for which the parsimony criterion is well suited for haplotype estimation.     

Shorelines of islands of tractability: algorithms for parsimony and minimum perfect phylogeny haplotyping problems

The problem Parsimony Haplotyping (PH) asks for the smallest set of haplotypes which can explain a given set of genotypes, and the problem Minimum Perfect Phylogeny Haplotyping (MPPH) asks for the smallest such set which also allows the haplotypes to be embedded in a perfect phylogeny, an evolutionary tree with biologically-motivated restrictions. For PH, we extend recent work by further mapping the interface between ;;easy' and ;;hard' instances, within the framework of (k,l)-bounded instances where the number of 2's per column and row of the input matrix is restricted. By exploring, in the same way, the tractability frontier of MPPH we provide the first concrete, positive results for this problem. In addition, we construct for both PH and MPPH polynomial time approximation algorithms, based on properties of the columns of the input matrix.     

Ultrastructure of Gyrodinium spirale, the type species of Gyrodinium (Dinophyceae), including a phylogeny of G. dominans, G. rubrum and G. spirale deduced from partial LSU rDNA sequences

A detailed ultrastructural analysis of the type species of Gyrodinium, G. spirale, was made based on cells collected from Skagerrak and southern Kattegat (Denmark). This material is considered very similar to the type material studied by Bergh from southern Kattegat. The analysis revealed many characters typical for dinoflagellates as well as a number of previously undescribed features. Here, emphasis was given to a three-dimensional configuration of the flagellar apparatus, the surface ridges, and the nuclear capsule. The latter had a rather complex ultrastructure consisting of two wall-like layers surrounded by membranes, with nuclear pores restricted to globular invaginations of these layers. To overcome difficulties with culturing of many auto- and heterotrophic dinoflagellates, we designed a specific reverse primer to amplify ca. 1800 base pairs of nuclear-encoded LSU rDNA. Using this approach, LSU rDNA sequences were determined from three heterotrophic species of Gyrodinium, including the type species. Using other alveolates (i.e. ciliates and Apicomplexa) as outgroup species, phylogenetic analyses based on Maximum Likelihood, Maximum Parsimony, and Neighbor-Joining supported Gyrodinium as a separate lineage. Unfortunately, the nearest sister group to Gyrodinium could not be established due to low bootstraps support for the deep branching pattern.     

单种属弥勒苣苔属系统位置研究 基于分子和细胞学数据

弥勒苣苔属是苦苣苔科的单种属,仅分布于中国西南部。为探讨弥勒苣苔在苦苣苔亚科中的系统位置,我们选择了苦苣苔亚科116个类群,外类群为苦苣苔亚科以外的7个物种。用最大简约法（MP）和贝叶斯分析（BI）,对以上类群的核基因ITS以及两个叶绿体基因trnL-F、atpB-rbcL数据进行了独立和联合分析。在三个片段联合分析的结果中,弥勒苣苔与马铃苣苔属、后蕊苣苔属、金盏苣苔属、直瓣苣苔属以及川鄂粗筒苣苔构成一个强烈支持的分枝。MP树中,此分枝为并系,而在BI分析中,弥勒苣苔与川鄂粗筒苣苔、直瓣苣苔属互为姐妹类群。同时,第一次报道了弥勒苣苔的染色体数目（2n=34）。根据前人报道,马铃苣苔属、后蕊苣苔属、粗筒苣苔属和直瓣苣苔属的染色体数目同为2n=34,这进一步支持我们的分子系统发育分析。     

单种属弥勒苣苔属系统位置研究：基于分子和细胞学数据

弥勒苣苔属是苦苣苔科的单种属,仅分布于中国西南部。为探讨弥勒苣苔在苦苣苔亚科中的系统位置,我们选择了苦苣苔亚科116个类群,外类群为苦苣苔亚科以外的7个物种。用最大简约法（MP）和贝叶斯分析（BI）,对以上类群的核基因ITS以及两个叶绿体基因trnL-F、atpB-rbcL数据进行了独立和联合分析。在三个片段联合分析的结果中,弥勒苣苔与马铃苣苔属、后蕊苣苔属、金盏苣苔属、直瓣苣苔属以及川鄂粗筒苣苔构成一个强烈支持的分枝。MP树中,此分枝为并系,而在BI分析中,弥勒苣苔与川鄂粗筒苣苔、直瓣苣苔属互为姐妹类群。同时,第一次报道了弥勒苣苔的染色体数目（2n=34）。根据前人报道,马铃苣苔属、后蕊苣苔属、粗筒苣苔属和直瓣苣苔属的染色体数目同为2n=34,这进一步支持我们的分子系统发育分析。     

GASP: Gapped Ancestral Sequence Prediction for proteins

Background  

The prediction of ancestral protein sequences from multiple sequence alignments is useful for many bioinformatics analyses. Predicting ancestral sequences is not a simple procedure and relies on accurate alignments and phylogenies. Several algorithms exist based on Maximum Parsimony or Maximum Likelihood methods but many current implementations are unable to process residues with gaps, which may represent insertion/deletion (indel) events or sequence fragments.     

基于线粒体ND2基因的中国斑翅蝗科部分种类分子系统学研究（直翅目：蝗总科）

本文的目的是通过对斑翅蝗科部分种类的线粒体ND2基因进行分析,重建斑翅蝗科昆虫的系统发育关系,并探讨分子系统发育关系和传统分类结果的异同。扩增并测定了我国斑翅蝗科10属16种蝗虫的线粒体ND2全基因1 023 bp的序列,对序列的碱基组成、转换颠换、系统发育信号等进行了分析。并基于ND2全基因序列数据,分别采用邻接法（NJ）、最简约法（MP）、最大似然法（ML）和贝叶斯法重建了10属16种蝗虫的系统发育关系。结果表明：斑翅蝗科蝗虫ND2全基因A+T含量平均为74.6%;痂蝗亚科和异痂蝗亚科没能得到区分,建议合并为一个亚科;而斑翅蝗亚科和飞蝗亚科的分类地位还存在争议。     

Phylogeny of the Gadidae (sensu Svetovidov, 1948) based on their morphology and two mitochondrial genes

Although Codfishes are probably one of the most studied groups of all teleost fishes worldwide owing to their great importance to fisheries, their phylogeny and classification are still far from being firmly established. In this study, we present phylogenetic relationships of 19 out of 22 genera traditionally included in the Gadidae based on the analysis of entire cytochrome b and partial cytochrome oxidase I genes (1530 bp). Maximum Parsimony, Maximum Likelihood, and Bayesian analyses all recovered five main clades that correspond to traditionally recognized groupings within Gadoids. The same clades were recovered with MP analysis based on 30 morphological characters (collected from the literature). Given these findings, we propose a revised provisional classification of Gadoids: one suborder Gadoidei containing two families, the Merlucciidae (1 genus) and the Gadidae (21 genera) distributed into four subfamilies: the Gadinae (12 genera), the Lotinae (3 genera), the Gaidropsarinae (3 genera), and the Phycinae (3 genera). Lastly, nuclear inserts of mitochondrial DNA (Numts) were identified in two species, i.e., Gadiculus argenteus and Melanogrammus aeglefinus.     

Molecular systematic study of Cardamine glechomifolia Levl. (Brassicaceae) using internal transcribed spacer sequence of nuclear ribosomal DNA (ITS) and chloroplast trnL and trnL-F sequences

The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of nuclear ribosomal DNA, trnL and trnL-F genes of Cardamine glechomifolia Levl. (family Brassicaceae) were sequenced and analyzed with the sequence of related Cardamine species retrieved from NCBI GenBank to detect pattern of evolutionary differentiation. All trees resulting from combined sequence analyses data of ITS, trnL and trnL-F gene resolve that C. glechomifolia – an endemic species to South Korea clade with Cardamine microzyga (100% bootstrap support). The evolutionary history was inferred using the Maximum Parsimony method. The consistency index is (0.588235), the retention index is (0.687500), and the composite index is 0.519622 (0.404412) for all sites and parsimony-informative sites (in parentheses). The result of the analysis using Maximum Parsimony was found congruence with Maximum Likelihood method and in Baseyan analysis.     

Ophryophryne属在角蟾科系统发育中所处的位置及拟髭蟾族四属间系统关系

采用最大似然法、贝叶斯法、最大简约法对来自角蟾科Megophryidae(Anura)9属20种及外群2种共30号标本的DNA序列进行了系统发育分析,所用片段为线粒体16S rRNA和cytb基因部分序列。结果表明,用于分析的所有角蟾科物种形成两大支。Ophryophryne、Brachycarsophrys、Atympanophrys同属第一支,前两者的系统关系较近。第二支5属间系统发育关系为(Leptolalax,((Leptobrachium,Vibrissaphora),(Oreolalax,Scutiger)))。     

南川绣线菊和细枝绣线菊分子水平研究

对6个野外居群(南川绣线菊和细枝绣线各3个)36个个体进行叶绿体(chloroplast,cp)DNA trnL-trnF片断测序分析.在南川绣线菊中发现了3个单倍型(Ros1-Ros3),在细枝绣线菊中发现了2个单倍型(Myr1-Myr2).两个种的序列联合分析对位排列后得到850 bp,共有9个变异位点,其中一个为碱基插入或缺失,另外8个为碱基置换,变异位点的百分率为0.11.对单倍型的遗传多样性分析表明同一区域亲缘关系相近的单倍型发生于同一居群中,并且存在着明显的分子系统地理学关系.以蔷薇科另两个外属植物Rosa californica 和 Sorbaria sorbifolia为外类群构建这两个种的最大简约(MP)树、最大似然(ML)树及贝叶斯树,结果获得了分辨良好的种间关系树.这表明在分子水平上两个种之间存在明显的差异,这与形态学上的表现是相一致的.遗传多样性分析结果表明了cpDNA trnL-trnF 片段对于绣线菊属的分子地理学研究还是比较有效的,可以通过进一步的大面积采样和分析来揭示植物的遗传结构、冰期避难所等问题.     

Phylogenetic analysis of RhoGAP domain-containing proteins

Proteins containing an Rho GTPase-activating protein （RhoGAP） domain work as molecular switches involved in the regulation of diverse cellular functions. The ability of these GTPases to regulate a wide number of cellular processes comes from their interactions with multiple effectors and inhibitors, including the RhoGAP family, which stimulates their intrinsic GTPase activity. Here, a phylogenetic approach was applied to study the evolutionary relationship among 59 RhoGAP domain-containing proteins. The sequences were aligned by their RhoGAP domains and the phylogenetic hypotheses were generated using Maximum Parsimony and Bayesian analyses. The character tracing of two traits, GTPase activity and presence of other domains, indicated a significant phylogenetic signal for both of them.     

Starting to unravel the toxoglossan knot: molecular phylogeny of the "turrids" (Neogastropoda: Conoidea)

The superfamily Conoidea is one of the most speciose groups of marine mollusks, with estimates of about 340 recent valid genera and subgenera, and 4000 named living species. Previous classifications were based on shell and anatomical characters, and clades and phylogenetic relationships are far from well assessed. Based on a dataset of ca. 100 terminal taxa belonging to 57 genera, information provided by fragments of one mitochondrial (COI) and three nuclear (28S, 18S and H3) genes is used to infer the first molecular phylogeny of this group. Analyses are performed on each gene independently as well as for a data matrix where all genes are concatenated, using Maximum Likelihood, Maximum Parsimony and Bayesian approaches. Several well-supported clades are defined and are only partly identifiable to currently recognized families and subfamilies. The nested sampling used in our study allows a discussion of the classification at various taxonomical levels, and several genera, subfamilies and families are found polyphyletic.     

Phylogenetics of Coenonymphina (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae) and the problem of rooting rapid radiations

We report a rapid radiation of a group of butterflies within the family Nymphalidae and examine some aspects of popular analytical methods in dealing with rapid radiations. We attempted to infer the phylogeny of butterflies belonging to the subtribe Coenonymphina sensu lato using five genes (4398 bp) with Maximum Parsimony, Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian analyses. Initial analyses suggested that the group has undergone rapid speciation within Australasia. We further analyzed the dataset with different outgroup combinations the choice of which had a profound effect on relationships within the ingroup. Modelling methods recovered Coenonymphina as a monophyletic group to the exclusion of Zipaetis and Orsotriaena, irrespective of outgroup combination. Maximum Parsimony occasionally returned a polyphyletic Coenonymphina, with Argyronympha grouping with outgroups, but this was strongly dependent on the outgroups used. We analyzed the ingroup without any outgroups and found that the relationships inferred among taxa were different from those inferred when either of the outgroup combinations was used, and this was true for all methods. We also tested whether a hard polytomy is a better hypothesis to explain our dataset, but could not find conclusive evidence. We therefore conclude that the major lineages within Coenonymphina form a near-hard polytomy with regard to each other. The study highlights the importance of testing different outgroups rather than using results from a single outgroup combination of a few taxa, particularly in difficult cases where basal nodes appear to receive low support. We provide a revised classification of Coenonymphina; Zipaetis and Orsotriaena are transferred to the tribe Eritina.     

Differentiation of group VIII Spiroplasma strains with sequences of the 16S-23S rDNA intergenic spacer region

Spiroplasma species (Mollicutes: Spiroplasmataceae) are associated with a wide variety of insects, and serology has classified this genus into 34 groups, 3 with subgroups. The 16S rRNA gene has been used for phylogenetic analysis of spiroplasmas, but this approach is uninformative for group VIII because the serologically distinct subgroups generally have similarity coefficients >0.990. Therefore, we investigated the utility of the 16S-23S rRNA spacer region as a means to differentiate closely related subgroups or strains. We generated intergenic sequences and detailed serological profiles for 8 group VIII Spiroplasma strains. Sequence analyses using Maximum Parsimony, Neighbor Joining, and Maximum Likelihood placed the strains into 2 clades. One clade consisted of strains BARC 2649 and GSU5367. The other clade was divided into clusters containing representatives of the 3 designated group VIII subgroups (EA-1, DF-1, and TAAS-1) and 3 previously unclassified strains. The stability of the positions of the strains in various analytical models and the ability to provide robust support for groupings tentatively supported by serology indicates that the 16S-23S intergenic rDNA sequence will prove useful in intragroup analysis of group VIII spiroplasmas.     

Reducing topological defects in self-organizing maps using multiple scale neighborhood functions

In this paper, we propose a method of reducing topological defects in self-organizing maps (SOMs) using multiple scale neighborhood functions. The multiple scale neighborhood functions are inspired by multiple scale channels in the human visual system. To evaluate the proposed method, we applied it to the traveling salesman problem (TSP), and examined two indexes: the tour length of the solution and the number of kinks in the solution. Consequently, the two indexes are lower for the proposed method. These results indicate that our proposed method has the ability to reduce topological defects.