Scaling properties of protein family phylogenies

• Main Authors: Herrada, E. Alejandro, Eguíluz, Víctor M, Hernández-García, Emilio, Duarte, Carlos M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 25-07-2011
• Subjects: Quantitative Biology - Populations and Evolution
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1102.4540

BMC Evolutionary Biology 11, 155 (2011) One of the classical questions in evolutionary biology is how evolutionary
processes are coupled at the gene and species level. With this motivation, we
compare the topological properties (mainly the depth scaling, as a
characterization of balance) of a large set of protein phylogenies with a set
of species phylogenies. The comparative analysis shows that both sets of
phylogenies share remarkably similar scaling behavior, suggesting the
universality of branching rules and of the evolutionary processes that drive
biological diversification from gene to species level. In order to explain such
generality, we propose a simple model which allows us to estimate the
proportion of evolvability/robustness needed to approximate the scaling
behavior observed in the phylogenies, highlighting the relevance of the
robustness of a biological system (species or protein) in the scaling
properties of the phylogenetic trees. Thus, the rules that govern the
incapability of a biological system to diversify are equally relevant both at
the gene and at the species level.