Phylogenetic Trees and Networks Can Serve as Powerful and Complementary Approaches for Analysis of Genomic Data

Abstract

Genomic data have had a profound impact on nearly every biological discipline. In systematics and phylogenetics, the thousands of loci that are now being sequenced can be analyzed under the multispecies coalescent model (MSC) to explicitly account for gene tree discordance due to incomplete lineage sorting (ILS). However, the MSC assumes no gene flow post divergence, calling for additional methods that can accommodate this limitation. Explicit phylogenetic network methods have emerged, which can simultaneously account for ILS and gene flow by representing evolutionary history as a directed acyclic graph. In this point of view, we highlight some of the strengths and limitations of phylogenetic networks and argue that tree-based inference should not be blindly abandoned in favor of networks simply because they represent more parameter rich models. Attention should be given to model selection of reticulation complexity, and the most robust conclusions regarding evolutionary history are likely obtained when combining tree- and network-based inference.

Keywords: Coalescence; gene flow; phylogenomics; reticulations; species network; species tree.