This course will run from 8th – 11th August 2016 at SCENE Field Station, Loch Lomond national park, Scotland
Starting from a refresher on approaches to obtain molecular phylogenies, the course will take students all the way to cutting-edge tools in DNA taxonomy. Species are one of the fundamental units in biology, and their identification is a pivotal step in biodiversity analyses. The rationale of the course is to offer a complete overview of the currently available methods to delineate units of biodiversity starting from DNA sequence data. By the end of the short course, you should have a basic understanding of how common methods work and how to apply them.
This course is being delivered by Prof. Ziheng Yang and Dr. Diego Fontaneto
Course content is as follows:
Day 1
- Introduction to DNA taxonomy
- The applied ecological approach and the theoretical evolutionary approach.
- What is needed to perform DNA taxonomy.
- How to get data.
- Phylogenetic reconstruction using distance-based and parsimony methods.
- Introduction on NJ, UPGMA, parsimony; when and why they can be used for DNA taxonomy.
- Computer practical.
Day 2
- Phylogenetic reconstructions
- Using Maximum Likelihood with computer practical on Maximum Likelihood.
- Using Bayesian Inference with computer practical on Bayesian Inference.
Day 3
- Single-locus DNA taxonomy.
- Most commonly used methods Rationale and use for fixed threshold, ABGD, K/theta, PTP, GMYC with computer practicals.
- Other methods, Haplowebs, bGMYC, etc. with computer practicals
Day 4
- Multi-locus DNA taxonomy with computer practicals
Further information
Click for more detail on the course
Please email any inquiries to oliverhooker@prstatistics.com or visit the website You can also book online