Several geneticists have told me that I should never, ever, ever use the word “locus/loci” the way its is often used in the field of phylogenetic inference:

“A four-locus phylogeny of X…”

“…and all loci employed supported the monophyly of…”

“…no significant conflict among the loci was detected…”

etc.

"Locus", they argue, should be reserved for the strict definition: “the position of a gene (or other significant sequence) on a chromosome”.

So instead I've always used “genes” or “genetic markers” (or simply “markers”). The latter - “marker” - is useful when referring to, e.g., the ITS region, that does not fully qualify as a “gene”.

What’s your take on this?

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