Steenwyk JL, Li Y, Zhou X, Shen XX, Rokas A. Incongruence in the phylogenomics era.
Nat Rev Genet 2023;
24:834-850. [PMID:
37369847 DOI:
10.1038/s41576-023-00620-x]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023]
Abstract
Genome-scale data and the development of novel statistical phylogenetic approaches have greatly aided the reconstruction of a broad sketch of the tree of life and resolved many of its branches. However, incongruence - the inference of conflicting evolutionary histories - remains pervasive in phylogenomic data, hampering our ability to reconstruct and interpret the tree of life. Biological factors, such as incomplete lineage sorting, horizontal gene transfer, hybridization, introgression, recombination and convergent molecular evolution, can lead to gene phylogenies that differ from the species tree. In addition, analytical factors, including stochastic, systematic and treatment errors, can drive incongruence. Here, we review these factors, discuss methodological advances to identify and handle incongruence, and highlight avenues for future research.
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