摘要
Sequence-based molecular phytogenies have provided new models of earlyeu-karyotic evolution. This includes the widely accepted hypothesis that animals are related mostclosely to fungi, and that the two should be grouped together as the Opisthokonta. Although mostpublished phylogenies have supported an opisthokont relationship, a number of genes contain atree-building signal that clusters animal and green plant sequences, to the exclusion of fungi. Thealternative tree-building signal is especially intriguing in light of emerging data from genomic andproteomic studies that indicate striking and potentially synapomor-phic similarities between plantsand animals. This paper reviews these new lines of evidence, which have yet to be incorporated intomodels of broad scale eukaryotic evolution.
Sequence-based molecular phytogenies have provided new models of earlyeu-karyotic evolution. This includes the widely accepted hypothesis that animals are related mostclosely to fungi, and that the two should be grouped together as the Opisthokonta. Although mostpublished phylogenies have supported an opisthokont relationship, a number of genes contain atree-building signal that clusters animal and green plant sequences, to the exclusion of fungi. Thealternative tree-building signal is especially intriguing in light of emerging data from genomic andproteomic studies that indicate striking and potentially synapomor-phic similarities between plantsand animals. This paper reviews these new lines of evidence, which have yet to be incorporated intomodels of broad scale eukaryotic evolution.
基金
This work was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation of the USA (MCB#0133295).
