Impossibility of Consistent Distance Estimation from Sequence Lengths Under the TKF91 Model.

Impossibility of Consistent Distance Estimation from Sequence Lengths Under the TKF91 Model.
Bull Math Biol. 2020 Sep 13;82(9):123
Authors: Fan WL, Legried B, Roch S
Abstract
We consider the problem of distance estimation under the TKF91 model of sequence evolution by insertions, deletions and substitutions on a phylogeny. In an asymptotic regime where the expected sequence lengths tend to infinity, we show that no consistent distance estimation is possible from sequence lengths alone. More formally, we establish that the distributions of pairs of sequence lengths at different distances cannot be distinguished with probability going to one.
PMID: 32920679 [PubMed - in process]

Source: Bulletin of Mathematical Biology - September 12, 2020 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Fan WL, Legried B, Roch S Tags: Bull Math Biol Source Type: research