More Taxa Are Not Necessarily Better for the Reconstruction of Ancestral Character States

摘要: Ancestral state reconstruction is an important approach to understanding the origins and evolution of key features different living organisms (Liberles, 2007). For example, ancestral proteins genomic sequences have been reconstructed for investigating genes (Hillis et al., 1994; Jermann 1995; Zhang Rosenberg, 2002; Gaucher 2003; Thornton Blanchette 2004; Cai Felsenstein, Taubenberger 2005). A variety methods, including parsimony maximum likelihood, exist biomolecular sequencing (Yang Koshi Goldstein, 1996; Elias Tuller, 2007), multistate discrete data (Schultz Mooers Schluter, 1999; Pagel, 1999), continuous (Martins, 1999). These methods assessed by both theoretical analyses (Maddison, Yang 1995) computer simulation Nei, 1997; Salisbury Kim, 2001; Mooers, Williams 2006). One observation in these investigations that topology phylogenetic tree relating extant taxa target ancestor has a significant influence on accuracy. instance, star-like phylogeny allows character states be inferred more accurately than other topologies given same number terminal under two-state symmetric model Evans 2000). complex models (e.g., four-states such as DNA), accuracy complicated (Lucena Haussler,