A phylogenomic analysis of a dataset of 143 proteins and 48 taxa indicates that Excavata forms a monophyletic suprakingdom-level group that is one of the 3 primary divisions within eukaryotes, along with unikonts and a megagroup of Archaeplastida, Rhizaria, and the chromalveolate lineages.
An overview of the results of the fungal mitochondrial genome project, which found several new molecular features in the mitochondrial genomes of lower fungi, including tRNA editing, and a large number of introns which provide insights into intron origins and evolution.
Complete sequences of numerous mitochondrial, many prokaryotic, and several nuclear genomes are now available and confirm that the mitochondrial genome originated from a eubacterial ancestor but raise questions about the evolutionary antecedents of the mitochondrial proteome.
Phylogenetic analysis with mtDNA-encoded proteins strongly supports monophyly of jakobids with Andalucia as the deepest divergence, however, it remains unclear which α-proteobacterial group is the closest mitochondrial relative.
Feature of gene content together with eubacterial characteristics of genome organization and expression not found before in mitochondrial genomes indicate that R. americana mtDNA more closely resembles the ancestral proto-mitochondrial genome than any other mtDNA investigated to date.
Defining more precisely the alpha-proteobacterial ancestry of the mitochondrial genome, and the contribution of the endosymbiotic event to the nuclear genome, will be essential for a full understanding of the origin and evolution of the eukaryotic cell as a whole.