The New Tree of Eukaryotes

Fabien Burki; Andrew J Roger; Matthew W Brown; Alastair G B Simpson

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2019.08.008

The New Tree of Eukaryotes

Trends Ecol Evol. 2020 Jan;35(1):43-55. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2019.08.008. Epub 2019 Oct 9.

Authors

Fabien Burki¹, Andrew J Roger², Matthew W Brown³, Alastair G B Simpson⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Organismal Biology, Program in Systematic Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. Electronic address: fabien.burki@ebc.uu.se.
² Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada; Centre for Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.
³ Department of Biological Sciences, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, USA; Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing, and Biotechnology, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, USA.
⁴ Centre for Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada; Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada. Electronic address: alastair.simpson@dal.ca.

PMID: 31606140
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2019.08.008

Abstract

For 15 years, the eukaryote Tree of Life (eToL) has been divided into five to eight major groupings, known as 'supergroups'. However, the tree has been profoundly rearranged during this time. The new eToL results from the widespread application of phylogenomics and numerous discoveries of major lineages of eukaryotes, mostly free-living heterotrophic protists. The evidence that supports the tree has transitioned from a synthesis of molecular phylogenetics and biological characters to purely molecular phylogenetics. Most current supergroups lack defining morphological or cell-biological characteristics, making the supergroup label even more arbitrary than before. Going forward, the combination of traditional culturing with maturing culture-free approaches and phylogenomics should accelerate the process of completing and resolving the eToL at its deepest levels.

Keywords: phylogenomics; protists; supergroups; tree of eukaryotes.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Review

MeSH terms

Eukaryota*
Eukaryotic Cells
Phylogeny