Maryam's project deals with computational aspects of phylogenetic reconstructions. It contains two major parts:
- She first developed the MySQL query system for our upcoming database grassweb, which was further improved by Nils Arrigo.
- She then focused on the development of a new model of codon evolution. The basic idea is to generalize current model to allow multiple substitutions per codon to occur during protein-coding gene evolution. This leads to a refined estimation of selective pressure and thus a better understanding of the evolution of functional genes.
Funding: Swiss National Science Foundation and Department of Ecology and Evolution.
