Question

For decades, the standard model of eukaryotic evolution was strictly vertically branching: traits were passed from parent to offspring, creating a neat phylogenetic tree of life. This paradigm, rooted in the classical Neo-Darwinian synthesis, treated genomes as isolated archives of linear descent. However, the increasing detection of Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT)—the non-reproductive transfer of genetic material between distinct evolutionary lineages—has complicated this arboreal metaphor. While initially dismissed by most orthodox evolutionary biologists as a peripheral phenomenon restricted to bacteria and archaea, recent genomic sequencing has overwhelmingly demonstrated that eukaryotes, particularly single-celled phagotrophs, have also incorporated significant amounts of foreign DNA into their genomes.

Proponents of a revised evolutionary framework argue that HGT in eukaryotes frequently occurs via phagotrophy. In this process, a host cell engulfs a prey organism but fails to fully digest it, allowing fragments of the prey's genome to physically integrate into the host's nucleus. This mechanism, they assert, acts as a massive evolutionary catalyst, enabling rapid adaptation to new ecological niches without relying on the exceedingly slow accumulation of point mutations. Yet, traditionalists caution against overstating the structural impact of eukaryotic HGT. They concede that while such gene transfers unequivocally occur, the vast majority of acquired genes are quickly deactivated, silenced, or purged due to fundamental genomic incompatibilities. For traditionalists, the core architecture of eukaryotic genomes remains overwhelmingly the product of vertical inheritance, rendering HGT an interesting but ultimately subordinate mechanism in the broader scope of complex organismal evolution.

Based on the passage, which one of the following can be reasonably inferred about the views of the traditionalists regarding horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in eukaryotes?