Figure 25.4 Lateral Gene Transfer Complicates Phylogenetic Relationships (A) The phylogeny of four hypothetical prokaryote species, two of which have been involved in a lateral transfer of gene x. (B) A tree based only on gene x shows the phylogeny of the laterally transferred gene, rather than the organismal phylogeny. (C) A consensus tree based on multiple genes is more likely to reflect the true organismal phylogeny, especially if those genes come from a stable core of genes involved in fundamental processes.