The large phylogenetic distance separating eukaryotic genes and their archaeal orthologs
has prevented identification of the position of the eukaryotic root in phylogenomic studies. …

Blastocystis is the most prevalent eukaryotic microbe colonizing the human gut, infecting
approximately 1 billion individuals worldwide. Although Blastocystis has been linked to …

Algae with secondary plastids of a red algal origin, such as ochrophytes (photosynthetic
stramenopiles), are diverse and ecologically important, yet their evolutionary history remains …

Background Comparative analyses have indicated that the mitochondrion of the last
eukaryotic common ancestor likely possessed all the key core structures and functions that are …

Rickettsiales are obligate intracellular bacteria originally found in metazoans, but more recently
recognized as widespread endosymbionts of various protists. One genus was detected …

Euglenophytes are a familiar algal group with green alga-derived secondary plastids, but
the knowledge of euglenophyte plastid function and evolution is still highly incomplete. With …

Rho GTPases constitute a significant subgroup of the eukaryotic Ras superfamily of small
GTPases implicated in the regulation of diverse cellular processes, such as the dynamics of …

The transition of free-living organisms to parasitic organisms is a mysterious process that
occurs in all major eukaryotic lineages. Parasites display seemingly unique features …

Background Departures from the standard genetic code in eukaryotic nuclear genomes are
known for only a handful of lineages and only a few genetic code variants seem to exist …

Eustigmatophyceae (Ochrophyta, Stramenopiles) is a small algal group with species of the
genus Nannochloropsis being its best studied representatives. Nuclear and organellar …