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University of Michigan Biological Station

The University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS) was founded in 1909.

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Phylogeography of Michigan pitcher plants and their microbial communities

Plant Population
Terrestrial
Project Abstract: 
Our project aims to characterize the plant genetic diversity within populations of Purple Pitcher Plants (Sarracenia purpurea) throughout the state of Michigan as well as the microbial community within the pitchers. Investigations into the evolutionary history of organisms commensal to Sarracenia may prove to be key in understanding the processes that promoted the rapid radiation of this unique genus. We wish to collect the pitchers, and their contents, of Saracenia purpurea for molecular characterization from Mud Lake Bog, one of ten populations throughout the state that we are investigating.
Investigator(s): 
Maggie Koopman
Status of Research Project: 
Complete (archive)
Years Active: 
2010
Research sites: 
Inverness Mud Lake Bog
Methods: 
Leaf tissue (pitchers) from 20 plants will be sampled along with their pitcher fluid. Leaves will be dried in silica and pitcher fluid will be frozen on dry ice. This field work will take place in one day in 2011. A traditional phylogeographic approach will be undertaken to assess genetic variation in pitcher plants at Mud Lake Bog and throughout the state using 8 plus microsatellites (Koopman and Carstens 2010, Koopman et al. 2009). Bacteria from the pitcher fluid will be extracted using the MoBio Power Soil Extraction Kit (Madison, WI). ARISA will be utilized to molecularly characterize the bacterial fauna of the S. purpurea pitchers (as in Koopman et al. 2010). This genomic fingerprinting approach will enable us to assess the degree of similarity between the bacterial fauna in the S. purpurea pitchers. Because this approach is relatively inexpensive, we will generate data from bacteria collected from 10 sites throughout Michigan. The ARISA data will provide us with information about both the diversity and quantity of bacteria in each sample. In addition to ARISA, we will directly sequence the 16s rRNA gene from the bacterial fauna in the pitchers using next generation sequencing (as in Koopman and Carstens 2011). This will offer a comparison to the bacteria isolated from other Sarracenia species (i.e. Sarracenia alata), and may allow us to characterize the spatial structure of bacteria which may be coevolving with S. purpurea. Koopman, M. and B. Carstens. 2011. The microbial phyllogeography of the carnivorous Pale Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia alata). Microbial Ecology 61: 750-758. Koopman, M., D. Fuselier, S. Hird, and B. Carstens. 2010. Bacterial characterization of the carnivorous Pale Pitcher Plant reveals diverse, distinct and time-dependent communities. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 76: 1851-1860. Koopman, M and B. Carstens. 2010. Conservation genetic inferences in the carnivorous pitcher plant Sarracenia alata (Sarraceniaceae). Conservation Genetics Available online. Koopman, M., E. Gallagher and B. Carstens. 2009. Isolation and characterization of nine microsatellite loci in the Pale Pitcher Plant Sarracenia alata (Sarraceniaceae). Molecular Ecology Resources. 9: 1460-1466.