I have long felt the need for a simple introduction to
networks for those people who know something about phylogenetic trees and would
like to find out what this "network business" is all about.
So, I have attempted to create such a thing by writing an
online primer.
It takes a toy dataset (real data for two genes from five
species) and leads the reader step by step through the construction of various
trees and networks, including a parsimony tree, a median network, a
recombination network and a hybridization network. So, mathematically it tries
to explain the relationship between these different ways of viewing the same
dataset. Biologically, it considers the possible conflicts between characters
within a gene as well as between genes, and what this might mean for
phylogenetic analysis.
The primer can be
read online, or downloaded as a PDF file
(for printing) or an ePub file (for reading on small screens).
Any constructive feedback will be gratefully received.
As a watercolor artist I was once requested to paint a phylogeny network and subsequently fell in love with the figures. I recently decided to return to the subject matter and wanted a better understanding of how they are generated. I simply wanted to let you know how much I greatly appreciated your online primer. Thanks tremendously!
ReplyDeleteThanks, I am glad that it was helpful. /David
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