Microbial communities (microbiomes) play important roles in animals, plants, and even whole ecosystems. However, microbiomes are constantly changing through time and space. These changes can have big impacts on the health of animal or plant hosts and the functioning of entire ecosystems. For this reason, uncovering rules that govern how microbiomes change across time and space is essential for understanding how they affect their hosts and ecosystems. This research builds on previous understanding of different strategies used by microbes to survive and compete for resources and applies it to studying the ecosystem that forms in the pitchers of the carnivorous pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea. Through a combination of experiments and modeling, the S. purpurea microbiome was studied to determine how microbial community functions change over time, how the host plant influences microbiome formation, and how the microbiome affects the host plant. The results will be compared with other aquatic, plant- and soil-associated microbiomes, to understand how S. purpurea pitchers can be relevant models for understanding roles of microbiomes in larger ecosystems.

Collaborators: Leonora Bittleston, Erica Young, Ben Baiser, Zac Freedman, Sarah M. Gray, Sydne Record, Dominique Gravel, Jessica Bernandin, Grace Cagle, Shelby LeClare, Isadora Fluck Essig, Zac Long

Funding: U.S. National Science Foundation