title: QNet: an agglomerative method for the construction of phylogenetic networks from weighted quartets.
abstract: We present QNet, a method for constructing split networks from weighted quartet trees. QNet can be viewed as a quartet analogue of the distance-based Neighbor-Net (NNet) method for network construction. Just as NNet, QNet works by agglomeratively computing a collection of circular weighted splits of the taxa set which is subsequently represented by a planar split network. To illustrate the applicability of QNet, we apply it to a previously published Salmonella data set. We conclude that QNet can provide a useful alternative to NNet if distance data are not available or a character-based approach is preferred. Moreover, it can be used as an aid for determining when a quartet-based tree-building method may or may not be appropriate for a given data set. QNet is freely available for download.
authors.affiliation: Chinese Academy of Science-Max Planck Society Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, People's Republic of China. stefan@picb.ac.cn
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Grünewald
authors.forename: Kristoffer
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Forslund
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dress
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Moulton
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D008957:Models, Genetic; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010802:Phylogeny; D012475:Salmonella / Q000235:genetics; D012984:Software