Abstract.
The reliable reconstruction of tree topology from a set of homologous sequences is one of the main goals in the study of molecular evolution. If consistent estimators of distances from a multiple sequence alignment are known, the distance method is attractive because the tree reconstruction is consistent. To obtain a distance estimate d, the observed proportion of differences p (p-distance) is usually ``corrected'' for multiple and back substitutions by means of a functional relationship d=f(p). In this paper the conditions under which this correction of p-distances will not alter the selection of the tree topology are specified. When these conditions are not fulfilled the selection of the tree topology may depend on the correction function applied. A novel method which includes estimates of distances not only between sequence pairs, but between triplets, quadruplets, etc., is proposed to strengthen the proper selection of correction function and tree topology. A ``super'' tree that includes all tree topologies as special cases is introduced.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Received: 17 February 1998 / Accepted: 20 July 1998
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Grishin, N. A Novel Approach to Phylogeny Reconstruction from Protein Sequences. J Mol Evol 48, 264–273 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/PL00006469
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/PL00006469