Society of Systematic Biologists

Molecular Biology and Evolution (06 February 2013), doi:10.1093/molbev/mst021

Phylogenetic analysis based on alignment method meets huge challenges when dealing with whole-genome sequences, for example, recombination, shuffling, and rearrangement of sequences. Thus, various alignment-free methods for phylogeny construction have been proposed. However, most of these methods have not been implemented as tools or web servers. Researchers cannot use these methods easily with their data sets. To facilitate the usage of various alignment-free methods, we implemented most of the popular alignment-free methods and constructed a user-friendly web server for alignment-free genome phylogeny (AGP). AGP integrated the phylogenetic tree construction, visualization, and comparison functions together. Both AGP and all source code of the methods are available at http://www.herbbol.org:8000/agp (last accessed February 26, 2013). AGP will facilitate research in the field of whole-genome phylogeny and comparison.
Jinkui Cheng, Fuliang Cao, Zhihua Liu

New Phytologist, Vol. 193, No. 2. (1 January 2012), pp. 304-312, doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2011.03972.x

* •Grasses rank among the world’s most ecologically and economically important plants. Repeated evolution of the C4 syndrome has made photosynthesis highly efficient in many grasses, inspiring intensive efforts to engineer the pathway into C3 crops. However, comparative biology has been of limited use to this endeavor because of uncertainty in the number and phylogenetic placement of C4 origins. * •We built the most comprehensive and robust molecular phylogeny for grasses to date, expanding sampling efforts of a previous working group from 62 to 531 taxa, emphasizing the C4-rich PACMAD (Panicoideae, Arundinoideae, Chloridoideae, Micrairoideae, Aristidoideae and Danthonioideae) clade. Our final matrix comprises c. 5700 bp and is > 93% complete. * •For the first time, we present strong support for relationships among all the major grass lineages. Several new C4 lineages are identified, and previously inferred origins confirmed. C3/C4 evolutionary transitions have been highly asymmetrical, with 22–24 inferred origins of the C4 pathway and only one potential reversal. * •Our backbone tree clarifies major outstanding systematic questions and highlights C3 and C4 sister taxa for comparative studies. Two lineages have emerged as hotbeds of C4 evolution. Future work in these lineages will be instrumental in understanding the evolution of this complex trait.
Grass Phylogeny Working Group