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. 2016 Jan 14:4:e1576.
doi: 10.7717/peerj.1576. eCollection 2016.

Biogeographic barriers drive co-diversification within associated eukaryotes of the Sarracenia alata pitcher plant system

Jordan D Satler  1 , Amanda J Zellmer  2 , Bryan C Carstens  1
Affiliations

Biogeographic barriers drive co-diversification within associated eukaryotes of the Sarracenia alata pitcher plant system

Jordan D Satler et al. PeerJ. .

Abstract

Understanding if the members of an ecological community have co-diversified is a central concern of evolutionary biology, as co-diversification suggests prolonged association and possible coevolution. By sampling associated species from an ecosystem, researchers can better understand how abiotic and biotic factors influence diversification in a region. In particular, studies of co-distributed species that interact ecologically can allow us to disentangle the effect of how historical processes have helped shape community level structure and interactions. Here we investigate the Sarracenia alata pitcher plant system, an ecological community where many species from disparate taxonomic groups live inside the fluid-filled pitcher leaves. Direct sequencing of the eukaryotes present in the pitcher plant fluid enables us to better understand how a host plant can shape and contribute to the genetic structure of its associated inquilines, and to ask whether genetic variation in the taxa are structured in a similar manner to the host plant. We used 454 amplicon-based metagenomics to demonstrate that the pattern of genetic diversity in many, but not all, of the eukaryotic community is similar to that of S. alata, providing evidence that associated eukaryotes share an evolutionary history with the host pitcher plant. Our work provides further evidence that a host plant can influence the evolution of its associated commensals.

Keywords: 454 sequencing; Co-diversification; Metagenomics; Phylogeography; Sarracenia.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare there are no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Sampling distribution of Sarracenia alata in Louisiana.
Sample sites are partitioned based on side of the Mississippi River. Red circles represent Kisatchie (K) and Cooter’s Bog (C) in the west; blue squares represent Lake Ramsey (L), Abita Springs (A) and Talisheek (T) in the east.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Taxonomic composition of the OTUs for each sample site.
Each site contains the number of OTUs (N) and the major lineages in which they belong. See Supplemental Information 1 for full sampling information.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Rarefaction curves of OTU richness at each sampling site are shown with the number of OTUs plotted against the number of sequences.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Population genetic structure for the inquiline community spanning the Mississippi River.
Results are shown from the AMOVA and GSI analyses. AMOVA analyses show the hierarchical partitioning scheme of locales within regions (ΦSC), locales within total distribution (ΦST), and between regions (ΦCT). GSI analyses represent the amount of allelic sorting on the eastern and western sides of the Mississippi River. Dark cells indicate taxa with significant genetic structure at the corresponding level; Table S2 contains specific values from each analysis. See Carstens & Satler (2013) for sampling information for S. alata, as these samples were collected from throughout the plant’s distribution.
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Grants and funding

Funding was provided by the Society for the Study of Evolution (Rosemary Grant Award for Graduate Student Research) and the Society of Systematic Biologists (Graduate Student Research Award) to JDS; and the Louisiana EPSCoR Pfund, the LSU Office of Research and Economic Development, and Louisiana Board of Regents for funding to BCC. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.