Premium
The value of repetitive sequences in chloroplast DNA for phylogeographic inference: A comment on Vachon & Freeland 2011
Author(s) -
SALTONSTALL KRISTIN,
LAMBERTINI CARLA
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
molecular ecology resources
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.96
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1755-0998
pISSN - 1755-098X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-0998.2012.03146.x
Subject(s) - phylogeography , biology , inference , evolutionary biology , chloroplast dna , phragmites , genome , ecology , computational biology , genetics , phylogenetics , artificial intelligence , computer science , gene , wetland
In a recent Technical Advance article, Vachon and Freeland (2011, Molecular Ecology Resources , 11, 279‐285.) evaluate the utility of repetitive and non‐repetitive variation in the chloroplast genome for phylogeographic inference, using variation in Phragmites australis as an example. While we agree that repetitive and nonrepetitive regions evolve at different rates and homoplasy can impact results, we disagree with the conclusion that repetitive regions are inappropriate for large‐scale phylogeographic studies. Here we describe limitations to the study dataset and analysis, and provide an alternative viewpoint on the utility of repetitive regions for phylogeographic studies.