Posted: July 31st, 2011 - 1:21pm
Source: Nature Precedings

Abstract
Accuracy of SNP-based whole-genome phylogeny reconstruction relies heavily on quality of sequence alignment which is particularly hindered by poorly assembled genomes. Alignment-free methods might provide additional insights. Here, we constructed a whole-genome phylogeny of 10 isolates from the current German E. coli outbreak against 30 existing E. coli genomes as well as that of a historical EHEC isolate using the alignment-free feature frequency profile method. Our results revealed a high similarity among E. coli isolates from the current outbreak and the historical EHEC being the most closely related isolate sequenced thus far.