title: The Metagenome of Utricularia gibba's Traps: Into the Microbial Input to a Carnivorous Plant.
abstract: The genome and transcriptome sequences of the aquatic, rootless, and carnivorous plant Utricularia gibba L. (Lentibulariaceae), were recently determined. Traps are necessary for U. gibba because they help the plant to survive in nutrient-deprived environments. The U. gibba's traps (Ugt) are specialized structures that have been proposed to selectively filter microbial inhabitants. To determine whether the traps indeed have a microbiome that differs, in composition or abundance, from the microbiome in the surrounding environment, we used whole-genome shotgun (WGS) metagenomics to describe both the taxonomic and functional diversity of the Ugt microbiome. We collected U. gibba plants from their natural habitat and directly sequenced the metagenome of the Ugt microbiome and its surrounding water. The total predicted number of species in the Ugt was more than 1,100. Using pan-genome fragment recruitment analysis, we were able to identify to the species level of some key Ugt players, such as Pseudomonas monteilii. Functional analysis of the Ugt metagenome suggests that the trap microbiome plays an important role in nutrient scavenging and assimilation while complementing the hydrolytic functions of the plant.
authors: Laboratorio Nacional de Ciencias de la Sostenibilidad, Departamento de Ecología de la Biodiversidad, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, AP 70-275, 04510, Ciudad Universitaria, Ciudad de México, México.
authors: Luis David
authors: LD
authors: Alcaraz
authors: Laboratorio Nacional de Ciencias de la Sostenibilidad, Departamento de Ecología de la Biodiversidad, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, AP 70-275, 04510, Ciudad Universitaria, Ciudad de México, México.
authors: Shamayim
authors: S
authors: Martínez-Sánchez
authors: Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Antigua Carretera a Pátzcuaro 8701, 58190, Morelia, Michoacán, México.
authors: Ignacio
authors: I
authors: Torres
authors: Red de Estudios Moleculares Avanzados, Instituto de Ecología, A.C, 91070, Carretera antigua a Coatepec 351, El Haya Xalapa, Veracruz, México.|Laboratorio Nacional de Genómica para la Biodiversidad (LANGEBIO), Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV), Km 9.6 Carretera Irapuato-León, 36821, Irapuato, Guanajuato, México.
authors: Enrique
authors: E
authors: Ibarra-Laclette
authors: Laboratorio Nacional de Genómica para la Biodiversidad (LANGEBIO), Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV), Km 9.6 Carretera Irapuato-León, 36821, Irapuato, Guanajuato, México.
authors: Luis
authors: L
authors: Herrera-Estrella
mesh_terms: D060435:Carnivory; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D015723:Gene Library; D018745:Genome, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D000068378:Lamiales / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology; D054892:Metagenome; D064307:Microbiota; D018514:Plant Structures / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D018744:DNA, Plant