GenPhyloData: realistic simulation of gene family evolution

BACKGROUND: PrIME-GenPhyloData is a suite of tools for creating realistic simulated phylogenetic trees, in particular for families of homologous genes. It supports generation of trees based on a birth-death process and—perhaps more interestingly—also supports generation of gene family trees guided by a known (synthetic or biological) species tree while accounting for events such as gene duplication, gene loss, and lateral gene transfer (LGT). The suite also supports a wide range of branch rate models enabling relaxation of the molecular clock. RESULT: Simulated data created with PrIME-GenPhyloData can be used for benchmarking phylogenetic approaches, or for characterizing models or model parameters with respect to biological data. CONCLUSION: The concept of tree-in-tree evolution can also be used to model, for instance, biogeography or host-parasite co-evolution.