title: The puzzle of plastid evolution.
abstract: A comprehensive understanding of the origin and spread of plastids remains an important yet elusive goal in the field of eukaryotic evolution. Combined with the discovery of new photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic protist lineages, the results of recent taxonomically broad phylogenomic studies suggest that a re-shuffling of higher-level eukaryote systematics is in order. Consequently, new models of plastid evolution involving ancient secondary and tertiary endosymbioses are needed to explain the full spectrum of photosynthetic eukaryotes.
authors.affiliation: The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Program in Integrated Microbial Biodiversity, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 1X5, Canada. jmarchib@dal.ca
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Archibald
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D010788:Photosynthesis; D010802:Phylogeny; D018087:Plastids / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013559:Symbiosis / Q000235:genetics