Recent trends in molecular phylogenetic analysis: where to next?

The acquisition of large multilocus sequence data is providing researchers with an unprecedented amount of information to resolve difficult phylogenetic problems. With these large quantities of data comes the increasing challenge regarding the best methods of analysis. We review the current trends in molecular phylogenetic analysis, focusing specifically on the topics of multiple sequence alignment and methods of tree reconstruction. We suggest that traditional methods are inadequate for these highly heterogeneous data sets and that researchers employ newer more sophisticated search algorithms in their analyses. If we are to best extract the information present in these data sets, a sound understanding of basic phylogenetic principles combined with modern methodological techniques are necessary.