Lophotrochozoa internal phylogeny: new insights from an up-to-date analysis of nuclear ribosomal genes.

ABSTRACT: Resolving the relationships among animal phyla is a key biological problem that remains to be solved. Morphology is unable to determine the relationships among most phyla and although molecular data have unveiled a new evolutionary scenario, they have their own limitations. Nuclear ribosomal genes (18S and 28S rDNA) have been used effectively for many years. However, they are considered of limited use for resolving deep divergences such as the origin of the bilaterians, due to certain drawbacks such as the long-branch attraction (LBA) problem. Here, we attempt to overcome these pitfalls by combining several methods suggested in previous studies and routinely used in contemporary standard phylogenetic analyses but that have not yet been applied to any bilaterian phylogeny based on these gen

SUBMITTER: Paps J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2660960 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature