Geenipuut

Geenipuut, or gene trees, are phylogenetic trees that represent the evolutionary history of a single gene or DNA sequence. Unlike species trees, which depict the evolutionary relationships of entire species, gene trees focus on the divergence and relationships of specific genes within those species. This distinction is important because gene trees and species trees can sometimes differ due to various evolutionary processes such as gene duplication and loss, incomplete lineage sorting, and horizontal gene transfer.

The construction of gene trees typically involves comparing DNA sequences from different organisms. Scientists align these sequences and then use computational algorithms to infer the most likely evolutionary tree that explains the observed patterns of variation. These trees can be used to understand the origins of genes, track their spread across populations, and study evolutionary processes at the molecular level. Gene trees are valuable tools in fields like molecular evolution, population genetics, and phylogenetics, providing insights into the intricate history of genetic material.