New Uses for New Phylogenies

by Harvey, Paul H.; Brown, Andrew J. Leigh; Smith, John Maynard; Nee, Sean

• ISBN13: 9780198549857
• ISBN10: 0198549857
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1996-08-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Recent advances in molecular genetics make the sequencing of genes a straightforward exercise. Comparisons of sequenced genes from different individuals of a species, or from different species, allow the construction of family trees or evolutionary trees which reveal genetic relationships.This volume shows for the first time how those trees, or phylogenies, can be used to answer questions about population dynamics, epidemiology, development, biodiversity, conservation, and the evolution of genetic systems. The techniques for deciding what these new trees can tell us come together ina unified framework so that a common set of methods can be applied, whatever area of biology interests the researcher.

Table of Contents

What this book is about

New phylogenies: an introductory look at the coalescent

Genealogies and geography

The coalescent process and background selection

Inferring population history from molecular phylogenies

Applications of intraspecific phylogenetics

Inferring phylogenies from DNA sequence data: the effects of sampling

Uses for evolutionary trees

Cross-species transmission and recombination of 'AIDS' viruses

Using interspecies phylogenies to test macroevolutionary hypotheses

Using phylogenetic trees to reconstruct the history of infectious disease epidemics

Relating geographic patterns to phylogenetic processes

Uses of molecular phylogenies for conservation

Testing the time axis of phylogenies

Comparative evolution of larval and adult life-history stages and small subunit ribosomal RNA amongst post-Palaeozoic echinoids

Molecular phylogenies and host-parasite cospeciation: gophers and lice as a model system

A microevolutionary link, between phylogenies and comparative data

Comparative test of evolutionary lability and rats using molecular phylogenies

Community evolution in Greater Antilean anolis lizards: phylogenetic patterns and experimental tests

The evolution of body plans: HOM/Hox cluster evolution, model systems, and the importance of phylogeny

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