Figure 2

Changes to the repertoire of Rab proteins in the last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA) considering different hypotheses of rooting the eukaryotic tree. (A-C) This shows the major hypotheses for rooting the eukaryotic tree, and underneath the six different Rab supergroups with their members (order as shown in the key). Presence of a Rab type in the LECA is indicated by a black outline. Hypotheses A and B both suggest the same 20 Rab types being present in the LECA (see also Figure 3 and Additional file 1). Placing Archaeplastida as an outgroup to all other eukaryotes would decrease the number of Rabs in the LECA to a minimum of 14, although in this model the position of Excavata is uncertain [29].