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Summary: The eukaryotic tree of life:
endosymbiosis takes its TOL
Christopher E. Lane and John M. Archibald
The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Integrated Microbial Biodiversity Program, Department of Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, 5850 College Street, Halifax, NS B3H 1X5, Canada
Resolving the structure of the eukaryotic tree of life
remains one of the most important and challenging
tasks facing biologists. The notion of six eukaryotic
`supergroups' has recently gained some acceptance,
and several papers in 2007 suggest that resolution of
higher taxonomic levels is possible. However, in organ-
isms that acquired photosynthesis via secondary (i.e.
eukaryoteeukaryote) endosymbiosis, the host nuclear
genome is a mosaic of genes derived from two (or more)
nuclei, a fact that is often overlooked in studies attempt-
ing to reconstruct the deep evolutionary history of
eukaryotes. Accurate identification of gene transfers
and replacements involving eukaryotic donor and reci-
pient genomes represents a potentially formidable chal-
lenge for the phylogenomics community as more protist
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