1. OEB 192 – 08.09.24 “Evolutionary speculation constitutes a kind of metascience, which has the same intellectual fascination for some biologists that metaphysical speculation possessed for some mediaeval scholastics. It can be considered a relatively harmless habit, like eating peanuts, unless it assumes the form of an obsession; then it becomes a vice” (Stanier, 1970)

2. Tree of Life: primary divisions

3. Microbial systematics Formerly Pseudomonas (partial list): Ralstonia, Burkholderia, Hydrogenophaga, Sphingomonas, Methylobacterium, Cellvibrio, Xanthomonas, Acidovorax, Hydrogenophillus, Brevundimonas, Pandoraea

4. 16S rRNA as phylogenetic marker Why a good molecule?

5. Tree of Life: three “domains” Based on 16S rRNA (Woese, 1987):

6. Tree of Life: three “domains” Based on 16S rRNA (Pace, 1997):

7. Tree basics: meaning

8. Tree basics: rotation

9. Tree basics: shape

10. Tree basics: character change

11. Key phylogenetic terms

13. Monday (9/14): Molecular evolution and horizontal gene transfer I.