Open AccessRF-Net 2: fast inference of virus reassortment and hybridization networks
Author(s) -
Alexey Markin,
Sanket Wagle,
Tavis K. Anderson,
Oliver Eulenstein
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
bioinformatics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.599
H-Index - 390
eISSN - 1367-4811
pISSN - 1367-4803
DOI - 10.1093/bioinformatics/btac075
Subject(s) - reassortment , inference , phylogenetic network , phylogenetic tree , biology , tree (set theory) , computer science , artificial intelligence , algorithm , genetics , gene , mathematics , medicine , mathematical analysis , disease , pathology , covid-19 , infectious disease (medical specialty)
A phylogenetic network is a powerful model to represent entangled evolutionary histories with both divergent (speciation) and convergent (e.g. hybridization, reassortment, recombination) evolution. The standard approach to inference of hybridization networks is to (i) reconstruct rooted gene trees and (ii) leverage gene tree discordance for network inference. Recently, we introduced a method called RF-Net for accurate inference of virus reassortment and hybridization networks from input gene trees in the presence of errors commonly found in phylogenetic trees. While RF-Net demonstrated the ability to accurately infer networks with up to four reticulations from erroneous input gene trees, its application was limited by the number of reticulations it could handle in a reasonable amount of time. This limitation is particularly restrictive in the inference of the evolutionary history of segmented RNA viruses such as influenza A virus (IAV), where reassortment is one of the major mechanisms shaping the evolution of these pathogens.