Reconciling gene trees: Deciphering the source and extent of genealogical discordance

从不同基因的分析中获得的不一致信号给生物学家提出了新的挑战。当在基因组的不同部分检测到相互矛盾的进化关系时，很难恢复和描述一组物种的历史。但基因间的这种不一致性也带来了新的机会：杂交、基因流动和其他生物过程都在基因树的变异模式中留下了自己的特征。该项目的目标是估计基因树和影响物种和种群的生物过程之间的不一致性。一个由统计学家、生物学家和计算机科学家组成的跨学科团队将开发新的、强大的统计方法，用于分析基因和物种关系。通过该项目开发的工具将在一个用户友好的程序中实现，以便所有遗传学家都可以使用它们。软件将免费分发，以便利利用这些工具研究其他物种群。本科生和研究生将在生物学，统计学和计算机科学之间的接口进行培训。从这项研究的见解将提高教育模块在进化理论在本科水平和K-12教师研讨会。

The discordant signal obtained from analysis of different genes has raised new challenges for biologists. When contradictory evolutionary relationships are detected across different parts of the genome, it is difficult to recover and describe the history of a group of species. But this discordance among genes has also raised new opportunities: hybridization, gene flow, and other biological processes each leave their own signature in the pattern of gene tree variability. The goal of this project is to estimate the discordance between gene trees and the biological processes that have affected species and populations. An interdisciplinary team of statisticians, biologists and computer scientists will develop new and robust statistical methods for analysis of genes and species relationships. The tools developed through this project will be implemented in a user-friendly program so that all phylogeneticists can utilize them. Software will be freely distributed to facilitate the utilization of these tools for the study of other groups of species. Undergraduate and graduate students will be trained at the interface between biology, statistics and computer science. Insights from this research will enhance educational modules in evolutionary theory at the undergraduate level and at K-12 teacher workshops.