English

Fixed-Parameter and Approximation Algorithms for Maximum Agreement Forests

Populations and Evolution 2015-03-19 v2 Data Structures and Algorithms

Abstract

We present new and improved fixed-parameter algorithms for computing maximum agreement forests (MAFs) of pairs of rooted binary phylogenetic trees. The size of such a forest for two trees corresponds to their subtree prune-and-regraft distance and, if the agreement forest is acyclic, to their hybridization number. These distance measures are essential tools for understanding reticulate evolution. Our algorithm for computing maximum acyclic agreement forests is the first depth-bounded search algorithm for this problem. Our algorithms substantially outperform the best previous algorithms for these problems.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1108.2664,
  title  = {Fixed-Parameter and Approximation Algorithms for Maximum Agreement Forests},
  author = {Chris Whidden and Robert G. Beiko and Norbert Zeh},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1108.2664},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

36 pages, 9 figures. Removed the Approximation and TBR sections and simplified the Hybridization section. To appear in SIAM Journal on Computing

R2 v1 2026-06-21T18:49:51.981Z