MixtureTree: a program for constructing phylogeny

BACKGROUND: MixtureTree v1.0 is a Linux based program (written in C++) which implements an algorithm based on mixture models for reconstructing phylogeny from binary sequence data, such as single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). In addition to the mixture algorithm with three different optimization options, the program also implements a bootstrap procedure with majority-rule consensus. RESULTS: The MixtureTree program written in C++ is a Linux based package. The User's Guide and source codes will be available at http://math.asu.edu/~scchen/MixtureTree.html CONCLUSIONS: The efficiency of the mixture algorithm is relatively higher than some classical methods, such as Neighbor-Joining method, Maximum Parsimony method and Maximum Likelihood method. The shortcoming of the mixture tree algorithms, for example timing consuming, can be improved by implementing other revised Expectation-Maximization(EM) algorithms instead of the traditional EM algorithm.