Title: The origin(s) of eukaryotes

Speaker: Dr. Laura Eme, URI, Department of Cell and Molecular Evolution

Abstract: The origin of the eukaryotic cell remains one of the most contentious puzzles in evolutionary biology. It is now clear that eukaryotic cells represent hybrid organisms: they exhibit a mixture of archaeal and bacterial features, as well as a vast number of eukaryotic-specific ones. Here, I will provide a brief historical assessment of our understanding of the Tree of Life. I will examine how recent results from the field of archaeal research allowed us to tackle some of the main questions regarding the origin of eukaryotes and which issues remain to be investigated.