Question

Which of the following is incorrect statement about branch-and-bound?

(a) It uses a shortcut to find an MP tree

(b) It establishes an upper limit (or upper bound) for the number of allowed sequence variations

(c) It solely uses UPGMA method

(d) It starts by building a distance tree for all taxa involved

This question was addressed to me during an online interview.

The above asked question is from Character Based Methods in section Phylogenetic Tree Construction Methods and Programs of Bioinformatics

Answer 1

The correct answer is (c) It solely uses UPGMA method

Easiest explanation: It starts by building a distance tree for all taxa involved using either NJ or UPGMA and then computing the minimum number of substitutions for this tree. The resulting number defines the upper bound to which any other trees are compared. The rationale is that a maximally parsimonious tree must be equal to or shorter than the distance-based tree.