gametree

Gamete tree, or gametree, is a conceptual representation used in genetics and evolutionary biology to illustrate the lineage of gametes across generations. In this framework, each node denotes a haploid gamete produced by meiosis, while directed edges connect parental gametes to the offspring gametes that result from fertilization. Unlike a tree of individuals, a gametree focuses on the transmission of genetic material through the gamete stage, tracking how alleles and haplotypes pass through mating events and recombination over time.

Gametrees are often constructed in computer simulations or analytical models to study inheritance patterns, the spread of mutations, or the structure of ancestry at the haploid level. They can aid in visualizing how recombination reshapes haplotypic blocks, how specific alleles propagate through populations, and how the gametic ancestry relates to the broader genealogical tree of individuals. In practice, the concept is most useful in forward-time simulations, breeding program analyses, and theoretical discussions of haplotype transmission; it is not as widely standardized as traditional genealogical trees of individuals.

Limitations of the gametree concept include its status as a modeling construct rather than a directly observable object, with its form depending on assumptions about mating patterns, recombination rates, mutation processes, and selection. It complements standard genealogies and coalescent analyses by emphasizing the haploid, gamete-based perspective of heredity, but it may be less applicable or intuitive in studies focused on whole-organism lineages without explicit gamete-level interpretation.

Related concepts include genealogical trees, haplotype, meiosis, and coalescent theory.