Computational approaches to species phylogeny inference and gene tree reconciliation

Abstract

An intricate relationship exists between gene trees and species phylogenies, due to evolutionary processes that act on the genes within and across the branches of the species phylogeny. From an analytical perspective, gene trees serve as character states for inferring accurate species phylogenies, and species phylogenies serve as a backdrop against which gene trees are contrasted for elucidating evolutionary processes and parameters. In a 1997 paper, Maddison discussed this relationship, reviewed the signatures left by three major evolutionary processes on the gene trees, and surveyed parsimony and likelihood criteria for utilizing these signatures to computationally elucidate this relationship. Here, we review progress that has been made on developing computational methods for analyses under these two criteria, and survey remaining challenges.