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1: Science. 2006 Mar 3;311(5765):1283-7.Click here to read Links
Erratum in:
Science. 2006 May 5;312(5774):697.

Toward automatic reconstruction of a highly resolved tree of life.

Ciccarelli FD, Doerks T, von Mering C, Creevey CJ, Snel B, Bork P.

European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69012 Heidelberg, Germany.

We have developed an automatable procedure for reconstructing the tree of life with branch lengths comparable across all three domains. The tree has its basis in a concatenation of 31 orthologs occurring in 191 species with sequenced genomes. It revealed interdomain discrepancies in taxonomic classification. Systematic detection and subsequent exclusion of products of horizontal gene transfer increased phylogenetic resolution, allowing us to confirm accepted relationships and resolve disputed and preliminary classifications. For example, we place the phylum Acidobacteria as a sister group of delta-Proteobacteria, support a Gram-positive origin of Bacteria, and suggest a thermophilic last universal common ancestor.

PMID: 16513982 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]