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Module 6.4 · Topic 3
Module 6.4 · Topic 3
Reconstructing a family tree from nothing but sequence similarity
A multiple sequence alignment reveals more than individual differences — it reveals a genuine pattern of which sequences resemble each other most and least. Speciation, back in Genetics, described how new species branch apart over time. This lesson asks whether that branching pattern can be read directly out of sequence data.
Four species' versions of the same gene are aligned. Species A and B differ at very few positions; species C and D also differ at very few positions from each other, but substantially from A and B. Does this pattern suggest anything about evolutionary relationships?
Molecular phylogeny reconstructs evolutionary relationships primarily by:
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