A new technique for identifying sequence heterochrony

Syst Biol. 2005 Apr;54(2):230-40. doi: 10.1080/10635150590923227.

Abstract

Sequence heterochrony (changes in the order in which events occur) is a potentially important, but relatively poorly explored, mechanism for the evolution of development. In part, this is because of the inherent difficulties in inferring sequence heterochrony across species. The event-pairing method, developed independently by several workers in the mid-1990s, encodes sequences in a way that allows them to be examined in a phylogenetic framework, but the results can be difficult to interpret in terms of actual heterochronic changes. Here, we describe a new, parsimony-based method to interpret such results. For each branch of the tree, it identifies the least number of event movements (heterochronies) that will explain all the observed event-pair changes. It has the potential to find all alternative, equally parsimonious explanations, and generate a consensus, containing the movements that form part of every equally most parsimonious explanation. This new technique, which we call Parsimov, greatly increases the utility of the event-pair method for inferring instances of sequence heterochrony.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms*
  • Animals
  • Classification / methods*
  • Data Interpretation, Statistical*
  • Morphogenesis / physiology*
  • Phylogeny*
  • Time Factors