TurboTree: a fast algorithm for minimal trees

A branch and bound algorithm is described for searching rapidly for minimal length trees from biological data. The algorithm adds characters one at a time, rather than adding taxa, as in previous branch and bound methods. The algorithm has been programmed and is available from the authors. A worked example is given with 33 characters and 15 taxa. About 8 x 10(12) binary trees are possible with 15 taxa but the branch and bound program finds the minimal tree in less than 5 min on an IBM PC.