Fig. 3

Occurrence of RABL2 genes in major eukaryotic lineages. The dendrogram showing the phylogenetic relationships among the taxa is drawn on the basis of current phylogenetic and phylogenomic literature. Multifurcations in the tree indicate lack of consensus on the topology in particular phylogenetic areas. The root of the tree is placed according to the most recent rooting hypothesis [53]. The position of Metamonada with respect to the root is unclear; sometimes they are placed sister to the group Discoba, while other analyses suggest metamonads may be sister to malawimonads or represent a deep group with unresolved affiliation. However, the unsettled position of metamonads, as well as alternative root positions suggested by other authors, do not change the inference on the occurrence of a RABL2 gene already in the LECA. For several eukaryotic lineages sufficiently complete genome or transcriptome data are still not available, so the presence or absence of RABL2 genes in them cannot be ascertained (indicated by the question marks)