Phylogenetics collaboration takes researchers back to basics with new training

Charles Darwin's first sketch of an evolutionary tree. Source: Wikimedia commons

A new online tutorial has been created to take researchers back to basics to uncover the principles of phylogenetics and how tree-building methods work. A longstanding collaboration between Professor Michael Charleston from the University of Tasmania and Australian BioCommons has delivered this self-guided tutorial featuring videos and hands-on exercises. To maximise its impact, the resource was tailored specifically to be shared globally via the Galaxy Training Network, and will form the basis of an upcoming live training workshop.

Using real-life data, and tools available in Galaxy and SplitsTree, the tutorial demonstrates the principles behind a variety of methods used to estimate phylogenetic trees from aligned sequence data or distance data. With a conversational style Michael discusses why phylogenetics is important, unpicks phylogenetics terminology from the roots to the tips and explains concepts such as multiple sequence alignment, how alignments are used to build trees, and phylogenetic networks.

Having the materials readily available online is already bringing benefits to Michael’s teaching at the University of Tasmania.

“Having the materials online with exercises in Galaxy is just fantastic for my university teaching. It means that students don’t have to take notes and frees them up to engage more deeply in class. Once they understand the concepts they can easily try out basic phylogenetic analyses and see how the tools work without needing to know how to code. ” - Professor Michael Charleston, University of Tasmania

Michael first created the concept of a workshop that explained the principles behind building phylogenetic trees in 2019 when experts from around Australia came together to consult on his materials ahead of a national workshop. Rather than providing an introduction to the topic, mathematician Michael’s deeper explanations of the underlying theories for people already creating phylogenetic trees found a unique niche. After amassing 24,000 views on the BioCommons YouTube channel, the need for an updated standalone tutorial was obvious. 

Michael worked closely with the BioCommons training team over the last year and a half to develop this tutorial by tailoring and refreshing the materials and activities for the self-contained and easy to use Galaxy platform. This activity is part of the BioCommons’ commitment to making our training materials FAIR.

Try out the Phylogenetics: back to basics tutorial in the Galaxy Training Network.

Or if you prefer live training, join us for a workshop based on the tutorial in July.