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    Genome Phylogenies Indicate a Meaningful a-Proteobacterial Phylogeny and Support a Grouping of the Mitochondria with the Rickettsiales


    Fitzpatrick, David A. and Creevey, Christopher J. and McInerney, James O. (2006) Genome Phylogenies Indicate a Meaningful a-Proteobacterial Phylogeny and Support a Grouping of the Mitochondria with the Rickettsiales. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 23 (1). pp. 74-85.

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    Abstract

    Placement of the mitochondrial branch on the tree of life has been problematic. Sparse sampling, the uncertainty of how lateral gene transfer might overwrite phylogenetic signals, and the uncertainty of phylogenetic inference have all contributed to the issue. Here we address this issue using a supertree approach and completed genomic sequences. We first determine that a sensible a-proteobacterial phylogenetic tree exists and that it can confidently be inferred using orthologous genes. We show that congruence across these orthologous gene trees is significantly better than might be expected by random chance. There is some evidence of horizontal gene transfer within the a-proteobacteria, but it appears to be restricted to a minority of genes (;23%) most of whom (;74%) can be categorized as operational. This means that placement of the mitochondrion should not be excessively hampered by interspecies gene transfer. We then show that there is a consistently strong signal for placement of the mitochondrion on this tree and that this placement is relatively insensitive to methodological approach or data set. A concatenated alignment was created consisting of 15 mitochondrion-encoded proteins that are unlikely to have undergone any lateral gene transfer in the timeline under consideration. This alignment infers that the sister group of the mitochondria, for the taxa that have been sampled, is the order Rickettsiales.

    Item Type: Article
    Keywords: a-proteobacterial phylogeny, supertree, mitochondria, removing fast-evolving sites.
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Science and Engineering > Biology
    Item ID: 668
    Depositing User: Dr. James McInerney
    Date Deposited: 17 Aug 2007
    Journal or Publication Title: Molecular Biology and Evolution
    Publisher: Oxford University Press
    Refereed: Yes
    URI:
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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