["Long-branch Attraction" artifact in phylogenetic reconstruction].
Phylogenetic reconstruction among various organisms not only helps understand their evolutionary history but also reveal several fundamental evolutionary questions. Understanding of the evolutionary relationships among organisms establishes the foundation for the investigations of other biological disciplines. However, almost all the widely used phylogenetic methods have limitations which fail to eliminate systematic errors effectively, preventing the reconstruction of true organismal relationships. "Long-branch Attraction" (LBA) artifact is one of the most disturbing factors in phylogenetic reconstruction. In this review, the conception and analytic method as well as the avoidance strategy of LBA were summarized. In addition, several typical examples were provided. The approach to avoid and resolve LBA artifact has been discussed.
Li
Yi-Wei
YW
Laboratory of Conservation and Utilization of Bio-resource, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China. azalee_713@yahoo.com
Yu
Li
L
Zhang
Ya-Ping
YP
D000818:Animals; D016477:Artifacts; D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D010802:Phylogeny; D015203:Reproducibility of Results