遺伝子の水平伝播
Due to the similarities found between eukaryotes and both archaea and bacteria, it is thought that a major source of the genetic variation is through horizontal gene transfer. Horizontal gene transfer explains why archaeal sequences are found in bacteria and bacterial sequences are found in archaea. This could explain why elongation factors found in archaea and eukaryotes are so similar, the data currently out is obscured as horizontal gene transfer, vertical gene transfer, or endosymbiosis and could be behind the gene sequence similarity. The eocyte hypothesis also has troubles due to the endosymbiotic theory, with the archaea being able to phagocytize bacteria for the formation of membrane-bound organelles. It is thought that these ancestral prokaryotes began to have ectosymbiotic relationships with other prokaryotes and gradually engulfed these symbiotes through cell membrane protrusions.