TAPIR enables high-throughput estimation and comparison of phylogenetic informativeness using locus-specific substitution models

Abstract: Massively parallel DNA sequencing techniques are rapidly changing the dynamics of phylogenetic study design by exponentially increasing the discovery of phylogenetically useful loci. This increase in the number of phylogenetic markers potentially provides researchers the opportunity to select subsets of loci best-addressing particular phylogenetic hypotheses based on objective measures of performance over different time scales. Investigators may also want to determine the power of particular phylogenetic markers relative to each other. However, currently available tools are designed to evaluate a small number of markers and are not well-suited to screening hundreds or thousands of candidate loci across the genome. TAPIR is an alternative implementation of Townsend's estimate of phylogenetic informativeness (PI) that enables rapid estimation and summary of PI when applied to data sets containing hundreds to thousands of candidate, phylogenetically informative loci.