title: The Modern Synthesis in the Light of Microbial Genomics.
abstract: We review the theoretical implications of findings in genomics for evolutionary biology since the Modern Synthesis. We examine the ways in which microbial genomics has influenced our understanding of the last universal common ancestor, the tree of life, species, lineages, and evolutionary transitions. We conclude by advocating a piecemeal toolkit approach to evolutionary biology, in lieu of any grand unified theory updated to include microbial genomics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy, Dalhousie University, Halifax B3H 4R2, Nova Scotia, Canada.|Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax B3H 4R2, Nova Scotia, Canada; email: ford@dal.ca.
authors.forename: Austin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Booth
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy, Dalhousie University, Halifax B3H 4R2, Nova Scotia, Canada.|Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax B3H 4R2, Nova Scotia, Canada; email: ford@dal.ca.|Department of Philosophy, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89557.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mariscal
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax B3H 4R2, Nova Scotia, Canada; email: ford@dal.ca.
authors.forename: W Ford
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Doolittle
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005813:Genes, Synthetic; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D023281:Genomics; D010802:Phylogeny
keywords: Modern Synthesis; endosymbiosis; genomics; lateral gene transfer; microbiology; tree of life