CoMET: A Mesquite package for comparing models of continuous character evolution on phylogenies
Chunghau Lee1, Sigal Blay3, Arne Ø. Mooers3, Ambuj Singh1, Todd H. Oakley2,4
1Department of Computer Science; 2Department of Ecology Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 USA. 3Department of Biological Sciences and IRMACS, 8888 University Drive, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6 Canada.
Abstract: Continuously varying traits such as body size or gene expression level evolve during the history of species or gene lineages. To test hypotheses about the evolution of such traits, the maximum likelihood (ML) method is often used. Here we introduce CoMET (Continuous-character Model Evaluation and Testing), which is module for Mesquite that automates likelihood computations for nine different models of trait evolution. Due to its few restrictions on input data, CoMET is applicable to testing a wide range of character evolution hypotheses. The CoMET homepage, which links to freely available software and more detailed usage instructions, is located at http://www.lifesci.ucsb.edu/eemb/labs/oakley/software/comet.htm.
Readers of this also read:
- Strategies for Reliable Exploitation of Evolutionary Concepts in High Throughput Biology
- Identification of Conflicting Selective Effects on Highly Expressed Genes
- LASER: A Maximum Likelihood Toolkit for Detecting Temporal Shifts in Diversification Rates From Molecular Phylogenies
- Comparative Evolutionary Histories of the Fungal Chitinase Gene Family Reveal Non-Random Size Expansions and Contractions due to Adaptive Natural Selection
- Assessing the Evolution of Gene Expression Using Microarray Data
