Rearrangement operations transform a phylogenetic tree into another one and hence induce a metric on the space of phylogenetic trees. Popular operations for unrooted phylogenetic trees are NNI (nearest neighbour interchange), SPR (subtree prune and regraft), and TBR (tree bisection and reconnection). Recently, these operations have been extended to unrooted phylogenetic networks, which are generalisations of phylogenetic trees that can model reticulated evolutionary relationships. Here, we study global and local properties of spaces of phylogenetic networks under these three operations. In particular, we prove connectedness and asymptotic bounds on the diameters of spaces of different classes of phylogenetic networks, including tree-based and level-k networks. We also examine the behaviour of shortest TBR-sequence between two phylogenetic networks in a class, and whether the TBR-distance changes if intermediate networks from other classes are allowed: for example, the space of phylogenetic trees is an isometric subgraph of the space of phylogenetic networks under TBR. Lastly, we show that computing the TBR-distance and the PR-distance of two phylogenetic networks is NP-hard.
Phylogenetic networks are a generalization of phylogenetic trees allowing for the representation of non-treelike evolutionary events such as hybridization. Typically, such networks have been analyzed based on their `level', i.e. based on the complexity of their 2-edge-connected components. However, recently the question of how `treelike' a phylogenetic network is has become the center of attention in various studies. This led to the introduction of \emph{tree-based networks}, i.e. networks that can be constructed from a phylogenetic tree, called the \emph{base tree}, by adding additional edges…
Phylogenetic networks are a generalization of phylogenetic trees that are used to represent non-tree-like evolutionary histories that arise in organisms such as plants and bacteria, or uncertainty in evolutionary histories. An \emph{unrooted} phylogenetic network on a nonempty, finite set $X$ of taxa, or \emph{network}, is a connected graph in which every vertex has degree 1 or 3 and whose leaf-set is $X$. It is called a \emph{phylogenetic tree} if the underlying graph is a tree. In this paper we consider properties of \emph{tree-based networks}, that is, networks that can be constructed by ad…
Tree-based networks are a class of phylogenetic networks that attempt to formally capture what is meant by "tree-like" evolution. A given non-tree-based phylogenetic network, however, might appear to be very close to being tree-based, or very far. In this paper, we formalise the notion of proximity to tree-based for unrooted phylogenetic networks, with a range of proximity measures. These measures also provide characterisations of tree-based networks. One measure in particular, related to the nearest neighbour interchange operation, allows us to define the notion of "tree-based rank". This pro…
Phylogenetic networks are a generalisation of phylogenetic trees that allow for more complex evolutionary histories that include hybridisation-like processes. It is of considerable interest whether a network can be considered `tree-like' or not, which lead to the introduction of \textit{tree-based} networks in the rooted, binary context. Tree-based networks are those networks which can be constructed by adding additional edges into a given phylogenetic tree, called the \textit{base tree}. Previous extensions have considered extending to the binary, unrooted case and the nonbinary, rooted case.…
Phylogenetic networks are a generalization of phylogenetic trees that are used to represent reticulate evolution. Unrooted phylogenetic networks form a special class of such networks, which naturally generalize unrooted phylogenetic trees. In this paper we define two operations on unrooted phylogenetic networks, one of which is a generalization of the well-known nearest-neighbor interchange (NNI) operation on phylogenetic trees. We show that any unrooted phylogenetic network can be transformed into any other such network using only these operations. This generalizes the well-known fact that an…
The Shapley value, a solution concept from cooperative game theory, has recently been considered for both unrooted and rooted phylogenetic trees. Here, we focus on the Shapley value of unrooted trees and first revisit the so-called split counts of a phylogenetic tree and the Shapley transformation matrix that allows for the calculation of the Shapley value from the edge lengths of a tree. We show that non-isomorphic trees may have permutation-equivalent Shapley transformation matrices and permutation-equivalent null spaces. This implies that estimating the split counts associated with a tree o…
The need for structures capable of accommodating complex evolutionary signals such as those found in, for example, wheat has fueled research into phylogenetic networks. Such structures generalize the standard phylogenetic tree model by also allowing cycles and have been introduced in rooted and unrooted form. In contrast to phylogenetic trees, however, surprisingly little is known about the interplay between both types thus hampering our ability to make much needed progress for rooted phylogenetic networks by drawing on insights from their much better understood unrooted counterparts. Unrooted…
Tree shape statistics are important for investigating evolutionary mechanisms mediating phylogenetic trees. As a step towards bridging shape statistics between rooted and unrooted trees, we present a comparison study on two subtree statistics known as numbers of cherries and pitchforks for the proportional to distinguishable arrangements (PDA) and the Yule-Harding-Kingman (YHK) models. Based on recursive formulas on the joint distribution of the number of cherries and that of pitchforks, it is shown that cherry distributions are log-concave for both rooted and unrooted trees under these two mo…
A Class of Unrooted Phylogenetic Networks Inspired by the Properties of Rooted Tree-Child Networks
Delft Institute of Applied Mathematics, Delft University of Technology（代尔夫特理工大学应用数学研究所）；Department of Computer Science, Middlesex University（中伦敦大学计算机科学系）；School of Computer Science, University of Auckland（奥克兰大学计算机科学学院）；Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University（达尔豪斯大学计算机科学学院）
A phylogenetic network is a graph-theoretical tool that is used by biologists to represent the evolutionary history of a collection of species. One potential way of constructing such networks is via a distance-based approach, where one is asked to find a phylogenetic network that in some way represents a given distance matrix, which gives information on the evolutionary distances between present-day taxa. Here, we consider the following question. For which~$k$ are unrooted level-$k$ networks uniquely determined by their distance matrices? We consider this question for shortest distances as wel…
In 1998, Böcker and Dress gave a 1-to-1 correspondence between symbolically dated rooted trees and symbolic ultrametrics. We consider the corresponding problem for unrooted trees. More precisely, given a tree $T$ with leaf set $X$ and a proper vertex colouring of its interior vertices, we can map every triple of three different leaves to the colour of its median vertex. We characterise all ternary maps that can be obtained in this way in terms of 4- and 5-point conditions, and we show that the corresponding tree and its colouring can be reconstructed from a ternary map that satisfies those con…
We describe a kernel of size 9k-8 for the NP-hard problem of computing the Tree Bisection and Reconnect (TBR) distance k between two unrooted binary phylogenetic trees. We achieve this by extending the existing portfolio of reduction rules with three novel new reduction rules. Two of the rules are based on the idea of topologically transforming the trees in a distance-preserving way in order to guarantee execution of earlier reduction rules. The third rule extends the local neighbourhood approach introduced in (Kelk and Linz, Annals of Combinatorics 24(3), 2020) to more global structures, allo…
Semi-directed phylogenetic networks have recently emerged as a class of phylogenetic networks sitting between rooted (directed) and unrooted (undirected) phylogenetic networks as they contain both directed as well as undirected edges. While the spaces of rooted phylogenetic networks and unrooted phylogenetic networks have been analyzed in recent years and various rearrangement moves to traverse these spaces have been introduced, the results do not immediately carry over to semi-directed phylogenetic networks. Here, we propose a simple rearrangement move for semi-directed phylogenetic networks,…
Phylogenetic networks generalize phylogenetic trees, and have been introduced in order to describe evolution in the case of transfer of genetic material between coexisting species. There are many classes of phylogenetic networks, which can all be modeled as families of graphs with labeled leaves. In this paper, we focus on rooted and unrooted level-k networks and provide enumeration formulas (exact and asymptotic) for rooted and unrooted level-1 and level-2 phylogenetic networks with a given number of leaves. We also prove that the distribution of some parameters of these networks (such as the…
In 2001 Allen and Steel showed that, if subtree and chain reduction rules have been applied to two unrooted phylogenetic trees, the reduced trees will have at most 28k taxa where k is the TBR (Tree Bisection and Reconnection) distance between the two trees. Here we reanalyse Allen and Steel's kernelization algorithm and prove that the reduced instances will in fact have at most 15k-9 taxa. Moreover we show, by describing a family of instances which have exactly 15k-9 taxa after reduction, that this new bound is tight. These instances also have no common clusters, showing that a third commonly-…
Phylogenetic networks are generalizations of phylogenetic trees that allow the representation of reticulation events such as horizontal gene transfer or hybridization, and can also represent uncertainty in inference. A subclass of these, tree-based phylogenetic networks, have been introduced to capture the extent to which reticulate evolution nevertheless broadly follows tree-like patterns. Several important operations that change a general phylogenetic network have been developed in recent years, and are important for allowing algorithms to move around spaces of networks; a vital ingredient i…
We solve a class of optimization problems for (phylogenetic) $X$-trees or their shapes. These problems have recently appeared in different contexts, e.g. in the context of the impact of tree shapes on the size of TBR neighborhoods, but so far these problems have not been characterized and solved in a systematic way. In this work we generalize the concept and also present several applications. Moreover, our results give rise to a nice notion of balance for trees. Unsurprisingly, so-called caterpillars are the most unbalanced tree shapes, but it turns out that balanced tree shapes cannot be desc…
Phylogenetic diversity indices provide a formal way to apportion 'evolutionary heritage' across species. Two natural diversity indices are Fair Proportion (FP) and Equal Splits (ES). FP is also called 'evolutionary distinctiveness' and, for rooted trees, is identical to the Shapley Value (SV), which arises from cooperative game theory. In this paper, we investigate the extent to which FP and ES can differ, characterise tree shapes on which the indices are identical, and study the equivalence of FP and SV and its implications in more detail. We also define and investigate analogues of these ind…
Unrooted phylogenetic networks are graphs used to represent evolutionary relationships. Accurately reconstructing such networks is of great relevance for evolutionary biology. It has recently been conjectured that all phylogenetic networks with at least five leaves can be uniquely reconstructed from their subnetworks obtained by deleting a single leaf and suppressing degree-2 vertices. Here, we show that this conjecture is false, by presenting a counter example for each possible number of leaves that is at least~4. Moreover, we show that the conjecture is still false when restricted to binary …
We present a new class of metrics for unrooted phylogenetic $X$-trees derived from the Gromov-Hausdorff distance for (compact) metric spaces. These metrics can be efficiently computed by linear or quadratic programming. They are robust under NNI-operations, too. The local behavior of the metrics shows that they are different from any formerly introduced metrics. The performance of the metrics is briefly analised on random weighted and unweighted trees as well as random caterpillars.
Given a collection $τ$ of subsets of a finite set $X$, we say that $τ$ is {\em phylogenetically flexible} if, for any collection $R$ of rooted phylogenetic trees whose leaf sets comprise the collection $τ$, $R$ is compatible (i.e. there is a rooted phylogenetic $X$--tree that displays each tree in $R$). We show that $τ$ is phylogenetically flexible if and only if it satisfies a Hall-type inequality condition of being `slim'. Using submodularity arguments, we show that there is a polynomial-time algorithm for determining whether or not $τ$ is slim. This `slim' condition reduces to a simpler ine…
Many discrete mathematics problems in phylogenetics are defined in terms of the relative labeling of pairs of leaf-labeled trees. These relative labelings are naturally formalized as tanglegrams, which have previously been an object of study in coevolutionary analysis. Although there has been considerable work on planar drawings of tanglegrams, they have not been fully explored as combinatorial objects until recently. In this paper, we describe how many discrete mathematical questions on trees "factor" through a problem on tanglegrams, and how understanding that factoring can simplify analysis…
A central theme in phylogenetics is the reconstruction and analysis of evolutionary trees from a given set of data. To determine the optimal search methods for reconstructing trees, it is crucial to understand the size and structure of the neighbourhoods of trees under tree rearrangement operations. The diameter and size of the immediate neighbourhood of a tree has been well-studied, however little is known about the number of trees at distance two, three or (more generally) $k$ from a given tree. In this paper we provide a number of exact and asymptotic results concerning these quantities, an…
We describe a method that will reconstruct an unrooted binary phylogenetic level-1 network on n taxa from the set of all quartets containing a certain fixed taxon, in O(n^3) time. We also present a more general method which can handle more diverse quartet data, but which takes O(n^6) time. Both methods proceed by solving a certain system of linear equations over GF(2). For a general dense quartet set (containing at least one quartet on every four taxa) our O(n^6) algorithm constructs a phylogenetic level-1 network consistent with the quartet set if such a network exists and returns an (O(n^2) …
An important problem in evolutionary biology is to reconstruct the evolutionary history of a set $X$ of species. This history is often represented as a phylogenetic network, that is, a connected graph with leaves labelled by elements in $X$ (for example, an evolutionary tree), which is usually also binary, i.e. all vertices have degree 1 or 3. A common approach used in phylogenetics to build a phylogenetic network on $X$ involves constructing it from networks on subsets of $X$. Here we consider the question of which (unrooted) phylogenetic networks are leaf-reconstructible, i.e. which networks…
Phylogenetic networks are a generalization of phylogenetic trees that allow for representation of reticulate evolution. Recently, a space of unrooted phylogenetic networks was introduced, where such a network is a connected graph in which every vertex has degree 1 or 3 and whose leaf-set is a fixed set $X$ of taxa. This space, denoted $\mathcal{N}(X)$, is defined in terms of two operations on networks -- the nearest neighbor interchange and triangle operations -- which can be used to transform any network with leaf set $X$ into any other network with that leaf set. In particular, it gives rise…
Given two phylogenetic trees with the $\{1, \ldots, n\}$ leaf-set the maximum agreement subtree problem asks what is the maximum size of the subset $A \subseteq \{1, \ldots, n\}$ such that the two trees are equivalent when restricted to $A$. The long-standing extremal version of this problem focuses on the smallest number of leaves, $\mathrm{mast}(n)$, on which any two (binary and unrooted) phylogenetic trees with $n$ leaves must agree. In this work we prove that this number grows asymptotically as $Θ(\log n)$; thus closing the enduring gap between the lower and upper asymptotic bounds on $\ma…
A tree-based network $N$ on $X$ is called universal if every phylogenetic tree on $X$ is a base tree for $N$. Recently, binary universal tree-based networks have attracted great attention in the literature and their existence has been analyzed in various studies. In this note, we extend the analysis to non-binary networks and show that there exist both a rooted and an unrooted non-binary universal tree-based network with $n$ leaves for all positive integers $n$.
Popular methods for exploring the space of rooted phylogenetic trees use rearrangement moves such as rNNI (rooted Nearest Neighbour Interchange) and rSPR (rooted Subtree Prune and Regraft). Recently, these moves were generalized to rooted phylogenetic networks, which are a more suitable representation of reticulate evolutionary histories, and it was shown that any two rooted phylogenetic networks of the same complexity are connected by a sequence of either rSPR or rNNI moves. Here, we show that this is possible using only tail moves, which are a restricted version of rSPR moves on networks tha…
Identifiability of the discrete tree parameter is a key property for phylogenetic models since it is necessary for statistically consistent estimation of the tree from sequence data. Algebraic methods have proven to be very effective at showing that tree and network parameters of phylogenetic models are identifiable, especially when the underlying models are group-based. However, since group-based models are time-reversible, only the unrooted tree topology is identifiable and the location of the root is not. In this note we show that the rooted tree parameter of the Cavender-Farris-Neyman Mode…
Head moves are a type of rearrangement moves for phylogenetic networks. They have mostly been studied as part of more encompassing types of moves, such as rSPR moves. Here, we study head moves as a type of moves on themselves. We show that the tiers ($k>0$) of phylogenetic network space are connected by local head moves. Then we show tail moves and head moves are closely related: sequences of tail moves can be converted to sequences of head moves and vice versa, changing the length by at most a constant factor. Because the tiers of network space are connected by rSPR moves, this gives a second…
Phylogenetic networks are rooted directed acyclic graphs that represent evolutionary relationships between species whose past includes reticulation events such as hybridisation and horizontal gene transfer. To search the space of phylogenetic networks, the popular tree rearrangement operation rooted subtree prune and regraft (rSPR) was recently generalised to phylogenetic networks. This new operation - called subnet prune and regraft (SNPR) - induces a metric on the space of all phylogenetic networks as well as on several widely-used network classes. In this paper, we investigate several probl…
Early literature on genome rearrangement modelling views the problem of computing evolutionary distances as an inherently combinatorial one. In particular, attention was given to estimating distances using the minimum number of events required to transform one genome into another. In hindsight, this approach is analogous to early methods for inferring phylogenetic trees from DNA sequences such as maximum parsimony -- both are motivated by the principle that the true distance minimises evolutionary change, and both are effective if this principle is a true reflection of reality. Recent literatu…
Graph invariants are a useful tool in graph theory. Not only do they encode useful information about the graphs to which they are associated, but complete invariants can be used to distinguish between non-isomorphic graphs. Polynomial invariants for graphs such as the well-known Tutte polynomial have been studied for several years, and recently there has been interest to also define such invariants for phylogenetic networks, a special type of graph that arises in the area of evolutionary biology. Recently Liu gave a complete invariant for (phylogenetic) trees. However, the polynomial invariant…
Tree rearrangement operations typically induce a metric on the space of phylogenetic trees. One important property of these metrics is the size of the neighbourhood, that is, the number of trees exactly one operation from a given tree. We present an expression for the size of the TBR (tree bisection and reconnection) neighbourhood, thus answering a question first posed in [Annals of Combinatorics, 5, 2001 1-15].
Phylogenetic networks are used in biology to represent evolutionary histories. The class of orchard phylogenetic networks was recently introduced for their computational benefits, without any biological justification. Here, we show that orchard networks can be interpreted as trees with additional \emph{horizontal} arcs. Therefore, they are closely related to tree-based networks, where the difference is that in tree-based networks the additional arcs do not need to be horizontal. Then, we use this new characterization to show that the space of orchard networks is connected under the rNNI rearra…
When Many Trees Go to War: On Sets of Phylogenetic Trees With Almost No Common Structure
LaBRI, Université Bordeaux（拉布里实验室，波尔多大学）；LIGM, Université Gustave Eiffel（信息与计算机科学实验室，古斯塔夫·埃菲尔大学）；Centre National de Recherche Scientifique（法国国家科学研究中心）；Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University（达尔豪斯大学计算机学院）
Network rearrangement operations like SNPR (SubNet Prune and Regraft), a recent generalisation of rSPR (rooted Subtree Prune and Regraft), induce a metric on phylogenetic networks. To search the space of these networks one important property of these metrics is the sizes of the neighbourhoods, that is, the number of networks reachable by exactly one operation from a given network. In this paper, we present exact expressions for the SNPR neighbourhood of tree-child networks, which depend on both the size and the topology of a network. We furthermore give upper and lower bounds for the minimum a…
