Testing the Accuracy of Eukaryotic Phylogenetic Profiles for Prediction of Biological Function
2008

Testing Eukaryotic Phylogenetic Profiles for Function Prediction

Sample size: 31 publication Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Saurav Singh, Dennis P. Wall

Primary Institution: Center for Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School

Hypothesis

How does the size and content of phylogenetic profiles impact the ability to predict function in Eukaryotes?

Conclusion

Larger phylogenetic profiles, particularly those containing between 25 and 31 Eukaryotic genomes, significantly improve the accuracy of functional predictions.

Supporting Evidence

  • Phylogenetic profiles with 25 to 31 genomes performed significantly better than smaller sets.
  • A core group of 18 genomes maintained predictive power similar to the full set of 31.
  • Most permutations predicted at least 50 functional modules with 80% or higher accuracy.

Takeaway

This study found that using more Eukaryotic genomes helps us better guess what proteins do in cells.

Methodology

The study constructed phylogenetic profiles from 31 Eukaryotic genomes and tested various permutations to assess functional prediction accuracy using Gene Ontology as a standard.

Potential Biases

Potential bias from the selection of genomes and their evolutionary relationships.

Limitations

The study focused only on Eukaryotic genomes and may not generalize to other types of organisms.

Statistical Information

P-Value

0.8

Statistical Significance

p<0.05

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