Question

Which of the following is incorrect statement about Tree-Searching Methods?

(a) The choice of the first three taxa can be random

(b) Parsimony method examines all possible tree topologies to find the maximally parsimonious tree

(c) It starts by building a three taxa unrooted tree, for which only one topology is available

(d) This is different than exhaustive search method

I had been asked this question at a job interview.

This key question is from Character Based Methods topic in chapter Phylogenetic Tree Construction Methods and Programs of Bioinformatics

Answer 1

Right choice is (d) This is different than exhaustive search method

Explanation: This is an exhaustive search method. The next step is to add a fourth taxon to the existing branches, producing three possible topologies. The remaining taxa are progressively added to form all possible tree topologies. Obviously, this brute-force approach only works if there are relatively few sequences.