Estimating the rate of molecular evolution: incorporating non-contemporaneous sequences into maximum likelihood phylogenies

摘要

TipDate is a program that will use sequences that have been isolated at different dates to estimate their rate of molecular evolution. The program provides a maximum likelihood estimate of the rate and also the associated date of the most recent common ancestor of the sequences, under a model which assumes a constant rate of substitution (molecular clock) but which accommodates the dates of isolation. Confidence intervals for these parameters are also estimated.