Minimum-spanning tree

This tool draws a minimum-spanning tree from MLST profile data. Prim's algorithm is used to determine the links. There may be many possible minimum-spanning trees for a given dataset, but the option to use BURST clustering is more likely to give meaningful results (the two STs with the greatest number of single locus and then double locus variants are linked first, preferably using intermediate STs). Written by Keith Jolley.

Input format

Each line should contain an identifier that represents the ST (no spaces), followed by the allelic profile, each column separated by whitespace (any number of spaces/tabs).

STs can be entered multiple times but their labelling must be consistent, i.e. you can't have the same profile entered with two names or vice-versa. Tree images are initially generated as scalable vector graphic (SVG) files. These can be edited or converted to other formats using Inkscape (freely available for Windows, Mac or Linux) or other graphics packages.

With larger datasets there may be some overlapping of nodes - try experimenting by altering unit length and node size.

Input is limited to 80 unique profiles (you can repeat profiles as many times as you like). Download example data file.