Back to Search Start Over

Convergence between the microcosms of Southeast Asian and North American pitcher plants

Authors :
Leonora S Bittleston
Charles J Wolock
Bakhtiar E Yahya
Xin Yue Chan
Kok Gan Chan
Naomi E Pierce
Anne Pringle
Source :
eLife, Vol 7 (2018)
Publication Year :
2018
Publisher :
eLife Sciences Publications Ltd, 2018.

Abstract

The ‘pitchers’ of carnivorous pitcher plants are exquisite examples of convergent evolution. An open question is whether the living communities housed in pitchers also converge in structure or function. Using samples from more than 330 field-collected pitchers of eight species of Southeast Asian Nepenthes and six species of North American Sarracenia, we demonstrate that the pitcher microcosms, or miniature ecosystems with complex communities, are strikingly similar. Compared to communities from surrounding habitats, pitcher communities house fewer species. While communities associated with the two genera contain different microbial organisms and arthropods, the species are predominantly from the same phylogenetic clades. Microbiomes from both genera are enriched in degradation pathways and have high abundances of key degradation enzymes. Moreover, in a manipulative field experiment, Nepenthes pitchers placed in a North American bog assembled Sarracenia-like communities. An understanding of the convergent interactions in pitcher microcosms facilitates identification of selective pressures shaping the communities.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
2050084X
Volume :
7
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
eLife
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.97c0c2da33a94719bdbef68f41f5746b
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.36741