Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 8, 2026

Using Phylogenetic Analysis to Investigate Eukaryotic Gene Origin
Published on: August 14, 2018
The tree of eukaryotes
Patrick J Keeling1, Gertraud Burger, Dion G Durnford
1Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6S 1T4. pkeeling@interchange.ubc.ca
Abstract:
Recent advances in resolving the tree of eukaryotes are converging on a model composed of a few large hypothetical 'supergroups', each comprising a diversity of primarily microbial eukaryotes (protists, or protozoa and algae). The process of resolving the tree involves the synthesis of many kinds of data, including single-gene trees, multigene analyses, and other kinds of molecular and structural characters. Here, we review the recent progress in assembling the tree of eukaryotes, describing the major evidence for each supergroup, and where gaps in our knowledge remain. We also consider other factors emerging from phylogenetic analyses and comparative genomics, in particular lateral gene transfer, and whether such factors confound our understanding of the eukaryotic tree.
Related Concept Videos
The Tree of Life - Bacteria, Archaea, Eukaryotes
The Tree of Life - Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes
Eukaryotic Evolution
Contrary to the endosymbiont theory, the eukaryote-first hypothesis proposes that the simpler prokaryotic and...
Phylogenetic Trees
Phylogenetic Trees
Phylogeny

