Provided by:
S.ANNA
From:
Altro PhD (Life Sciences)
Lecturers:
Andrea ZUCCOLO
Semester:
2
Hours:
15
Exam:
Y
Educational Goals:
The main goal of the course is to introduce the basic principles underlying evolutionary biology and to present and discuss rationale and methods of phylogenetic inference. We'll discuss the process of selecting and gathering appropriate datasets for subsequent analyses and we'll explain three widely used methods of phylogenetic inference: parsimony, distance, and likelihood methods. Particular attention will be paid to the methods used to evaluate objectively the reliability and accuracy of the resulting inferences. Finally, we'll critically consider the results of phylogenetic reconstructionÑhow they can shed light on past evolutionary events, such as gene duplications and lateral gene transfers, as well as how they can be used for other purposes, such as predicting gene function and resolving RNA secondary structures.
