Understanding the Position of Aquificales in Bacterial Evolution
Author Information
Author(s): Bastien Boussau, Laurent Guéguen, Manolo Gouy
Primary Institution: Université de Lyon; Université Lyon 1; CNRS; INRIA; Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive
Hypothesis
How do horizontal gene transfers affect the phylogenetic position of Aquificales?
Conclusion
Aquificales should be placed close to Thermotogales due to significant horizontal gene transfers affecting their phylogenetic signal.
Supporting Evidence
- Aquifex is most often found as a neighbor to Thermotogales.
- Informational genes are less frequently transferred than operational genes.
- Two phylogenetic hypotheses were found to be significantly more likely than others.
Takeaway
Scientists studied how certain bacteria, called Aquificales, are related to others and found that they are often close to a group called Thermotogales because of shared genes.
Methodology
The study surveyed gene sequences from the HOGENOM database and analyzed phylogenetic relationships using maximum likelihood methods.
Potential Biases
Potential biases from horizontal gene transfers complicate the interpretation of phylogenetic signals.
Limitations
The study may be affected by compositional biases and long branch attraction.
Statistical Information
P-Value
p<0.001
Statistical Significance
p<0.001
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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