The Incredible Expanding Ancestor of Eukaryotes

Comparing the genome sequences of free-living organisms in the five eukaryotic supergroups enables predictions to be made about the genome of the last common ancestor of eukaryotes. The genome sequence of the amoeboflagellate Naegleria gruberi reported by reveals the surprising complexity of this unicellular organism and, by inference, of the last common eukaryotic ancestor.