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Carleton University

Navigating Molecular Evolution Using Substitution Mappings

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Since first proposed in 2002, Bayesian substitution mappings have found less use than might have been expected in the field of molecular evolution. Here, I first create a sequence simulator capable of generating true substitution mappings for simulated data under any time-reversible model in order to facilitate study of substitution mappings. I then investigate the utility of substitution mappings for two applications: detection of coevolving residues and scoring of amino acid substitution radicality to test the predictions of the nearly neutral theory. I find that mappings perform poorly for coevolution detection, but using mappings to find the radicality of an average amino acid by scoring each observed substitution works well. Overall, substitution mappings look to be a potentially useful tool for some types of molecular evolution studies.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science (M.Sc.)
Level thesis:degree_level
Master's
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Biology
Grantor dc:publisher
Carleton University
Year dc:date.issued
2017

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Low, Andrew

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • Copyright © 2017 the author(s). Theses may be used for non-commercial research, educational, or related academic purposes only. Such uses include personal study, research, scholarship, and teaching. Theses may only be shared by linking to Carleton University Institutional Repository and no part may be used without proper attribution to the author. No part may be used for commercial purposes directly or indirectly via a for-profit platform; no adaptation or derivative works are permitted without consent from the copyright owner.
Language dc:language.iso
en

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:carleton.scholaris.ca:20.500.14718/38972

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Carleton University
Base URL
carleton.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
related terms
citation

Low, Andrew. Navigating Molecular Evolution Using Substitution Mappings. Master's thesis, Carleton University, 2017. https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14718/38972