TY  - JOUR
TI  - The neighbor-joining method: a new method for reconstructing phylogenetic trees.
AU  - Naruya Saitou
AU  - M Nei
PY  - 1987
JO  - Molecular Biology and Evolution
DO  - 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a040454
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a040454
AB  - A new method called the neighbor-joining method is proposed for reconstructing phylogenetic trees from evolutionary distance data. The principle of this method is to find pairs of operational taxonomic units (OTUs [= neighbors]) that minimize the total branch length at each stage of clustering of OTUs starting with a starlike tree. The branch lengths as well as the topology of a parsimonious tree can quickly be obtained by using this method. Using computer simulation, we studied the efficiency of this method in obtaining the correct unrooted tree in comparison with that of five other tree-making methods: the unweighted pair group method of analysis, Farris's method, Sattath and Tversky's method, Li's method, and Tateno et al.'s modified Farris method. The new, neighbor-joining method and Sattath and Tversky's method are shown to be generally better than the other methods.
ER  -