A morphological and molecular study of <i>Euglena anabaena</i>

Abstract

Euglenoids represent one of the earliest divergences from the eukaryotic tree of life leading to higher plants and animals. Yet despite their evolutionary importance as early eukaryotes, euglenoids are poorly studied in terms of their own evolutionary relationships and morphological idiosyncracies. The focus of this project is to establish the phylogenetic relationships of one species of euglenoid, Euglena anabaena. The method for diagnosing this euglenoid species will incorporate morphological observations with the molecular sequence data. The combination of both sets of data strives to establish a congruence between the visible characteristics of the organism and its genomic information. As a result, inferences can be made as to where Euglena anabaena falls on the evolutionary tree and its relationship to other euglenoids.