Work

Evolutionary diversity of eukaryotic small-subunit rRNA genes.

Year: 1986

Type: article

Abstract: The small-subunit rRNA gene sequences of the flagellated protists Euglena gracilis and Trypanosoma brucei were determined and compared to those of other eukaryotes. A phylogenetic tree was constructed in which the earliest branching among the eukaryotes is represented by E. gracilis. The E. gracilis divergence far antedates a period of massive evolutionary radiation that gave rise to the plants, animals, fungi, and certain groups of protists such as ciliates and the acanthamoebae. The genetic diversity in this collection of eukaryotes is seen to exceed that displayed within either the eubacterial or the archaebacterial lines of descent.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.83.5.1383

Authors: M L Sogin, H J Elwood, J H Gunderson

Institution: National Jewish Health

Language: English

Topic: Protist diversity and phylogeny

Subfield: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences

Award: MOLECULAR PHYLOGENY OF EUKARYOTES