Inference of phylogenetic networks in the presence of hybridization, horizontal transfer or recombination.

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Daniel H. Huson
• Subject Area: Bioinformatics and Theoretical Biology
• Term: from 2005 to 2010
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 21152761

Phylogenetic trees are used to represent the evolutionary history of species. They are often obtained by reconstructing the phylogeny of individual genes, using methods that are based on simple models of evolution, Biologists are becoming increasingly interested in more complex models of evolution. The growth of available sequence data is making it easier to estimate evolutionary history using multiple genes or whole genomes. More complex models of evolution involving gene loss and duplication, hybridization, horizontal gene transfer or recombination, can be employed. Phylogenetic networks are required to accommodate such reticulate events.The aim of this project is to develop a suite of robust methods for inferring phylogenetic networks. Based on our previous work on split networks, which implicitly describe reticulate evolution, new methods will be established for computing reticulate networks that explicitly model evolution in the presence of hybridization, recombination and other reticulate events.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants