Hunters or farmers? Microbiome characteristics help elucidate the diet composition in an aquatic carnivorous plant

Autor: Karel Šimek, Jiří Pech, Jakub Borovec, Dagmara Sirová, James D. Stone, Lubomír Adamec, Jiří Bárta, Thomas Posch, Jaroslav Vrba
Přispěvatelé: University of Zurich, Sirová, Dagmara
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2018
Předmět:
Zdroj: Microbiome, Vol 6, Iss 1, Pp 1-13 (2018)
Microbiome
ISSN: 2049-2618
DOI: 10.1186/s40168-018-0600-7
Popis: Background Utricularia are rootless aquatic carnivorous plants which have recently attracted the attention of researchers due to the peculiarities of their miniaturized genomes. Here, we focus on a novel aspect of Utricularia ecophysiology—the interactions with and within the complex communities of microorganisms colonizing their traps and external surfaces. Results Bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa inhabit the miniature ecosystem of the Utricularia trap lumen and are involved in the regeneration of nutrients from complex organic matter. By combining molecular methods, microscopy, and other approaches to assess the trap-associated microbial community structure, diversity, function, as well as the nutrient turn-over potential of bacterivory, we gained insight into the nutrient acquisition strategies of the Utricularia hosts. Conclusions We conclude that Utricularia traps can, in terms of their ecophysiological function, be compared to microbial cultivators or farms, which center around complex microbial consortia acting synergistically to convert complex organic matter, often of algal origin, into a source of utilizable nutrients for the plants. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40168-018-0600-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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