Question

You want to use DNA sequence data to build a phylogenetic tree of the genus Canis (includes dogs, wolves, coyotes, jackals, dingoes). Which of the following would provide the most useful comparison among the species you wish to study?

a) paralogs

b) orthologs

c) linked genes

d) nonhomologous sequence

Answer 1

The sequence similarities in case of shorter sequences are said to be non-homologous sequences. These do not help in determining the relatedness of animals or in this case the canines. The homology can be orthologous or paralogous. Orthologous sequences are descendent from the same ancestral sequence due to speciation events whereas paralogous sequences are the result of duplication of ancestral genes. Linkage mapping can be a way to determine the phylogeny but that too needs to be of good resolution.
Hence the correct answer is : Orthologs.