Tree-Based Unrooted Nonbinary Phylogenetic Networks

TL;DR

This paper extends the concept of tree-based phylogenetic networks to unrooted, nonbinary cases, classifies these networks, and explores their properties, including colorability, to better understand complex evolutionary histories.

Contribution

It introduces a new framework for unrooted, nonbinary tree-based networks and classifies them, expanding the theoretical understanding of phylogenetic network structures.

Findings

Defined fully tree-based networks in unrooted, nonbinary context

Classified different types of unrooted, nonbinary tree-based networks

Derived results on the colorability of these networks

Abstract

Phylogenetic networks are a generalisation of phylogenetic trees that allow for more complex evolutionary histories that include hybridisation-like processes. It is of considerable interest whether a network can be considered `tree-like' or not, which lead to the introduction of \textit{tree-based} networks in the rooted, binary context. Tree-based networks are those networks which can be constructed by adding additional edges into a given phylogenetic tree, called the \textit{base tree}. Previous extensions have considered extending to the binary, unrooted case and the nonbinary, rooted case. We extend tree-based networks to the context of unrooted, nonbinary networks in three ways, depending on the types of additional edges that are permitted. A phylogenetic network in which every embedded tree is a base tree is termed a \textit{fully tree-based} network. We also extend this concept to unrooted, nonbinary phylogenetic networks and classify the resulting networks. We also derive some results on the colourability of tree-based networks, which can be useful to determine whether a network is tree-based.