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Publication Date

2022-05-09

First Advisor

Laura A. Katz

Document Type

Honors Project

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Biological Sciences

Keywords

Biodiversity, Community ecology, Eukaryotic communities, Phylogenetic trees, Phytotelmata, Protists, SAR

Abstract

The majority of eukaryotes are single-celled microbes, referred to as protists, many of which remain understudied because they cannot currently be cultivated in the lab. Here, I survey protist diversity within phytotelmata (water-holding cavities formed by plants, including pitchers) of six Nepenthes tropical pitcher plant species. My focus is on the diversity of the protist SAR (Stramenopiles, Alveolates, and Rhizaria) clade that includes photosynthetic lineages (e.g. diatoms, dinoflagellates), parasites (e.g. apicomplexans, oomycetes), heterotrophs (e.g. ciliates, most Cercozoa), as well as many other interesting and uncultivable lineages. I use SAR-specific primers designed to amplify a portion of the SSU-rRNA gene to characterize community composition and diversity in pitchers sampled from the Nepenthes pitcher plants at the Smith College Lyman Plant House and Conservatory. Pitchers were sampled from different life stages to investigate whether closed pitchers are microbially sterile or, instead, are seeded with a microbial community from their parent plant or environment. I compared differences in SAR communities among closed juvenile, recently-opened adults, and open mature pitchers. I also used a metatranscriptomics approach to clearly identify the taxonomy and function of the vast amount of microeukaryotic species living inside of these plants. The results suggest that 1. juvenile or closed “baby” pitchers harbor a less abundant and sometimes undetectable SAR community while open adult and mature pitchers harbor well-established and diverse SAR lineages; 2. adult pitcher plants harbor a community of freshwater amoeba, i.e. slime molds, inside of their microbiome.

Rights

©2022 Jailene Carolina Gonzalez. Access limited to the Smith College community and other researchers while on campus. Smith College community members also may access from off-campus using a Smith College log-in. Other off-campus researchers may request a copy through Interlibrary Loan for personal use.

Language

English

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