BACKGROUND: Utricularia are rootless aquatic carnivorous plants which have recently attracted the attention of researchers due to the peculiarities of their miniaturized genomes. Here, we focus on a novel aspect of Utricularia ecophysiology-the interactions with and within the complex communities of microorganisms colonizing their traps and external surfaces. RESULTS: Bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa inhabit the miniature ecosystem of the Utricularia trap lumen and are involved in the regeneration of nutrients from complex organic matter. By combining molecular methods, microscopy, and other approaches to assess the trap-associated microbial community structure, diversity, function, as well as the nutrient turn-over potential of bacterivory, we gained insight into the nutrient acquisition strategies of the Utricularia hosts. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that Utricularia traps can, in terms of their ecophysiological function, be compared to microbial cultivators or farms, which center around complex microbial consortia acting synergistically to convert complex organic matter, often of algal origin, into a source of utilizable nutrients for the plants.

Biology Centre CAS Institute of Hydrobiology Na Sádkách 7 CZ 37005 České Budějovice Czech Republic

Department of Biology and Wildlife University of Alaska Fairbanks Fairbanks AK 99775 USA

Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia Branišovská 1760 CZ 37005 České Budějovice Czech Republic

Institute of Botany CAS Dukelská 135 CZ 37982 Třeboň Czech Republic

Institute of Experimental Botany CAS Rozvojová 263 CZ 16502 Praha 6 Lysolaje Czech Republic

Limnological Station Department of Plant and Microbial Biology University of Zurich CH 8802 Kilchberg Switzerland

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Microbiome. 2019 Jan 5;7(1):4. doi: 10.1186/s40168-018-0617-y. PubMed

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Alternative or cytochrome? Respiratory pathways in traps of aquatic carnivorous bladderwort Utricularia reflexa

Recent ecophysiological, biochemical and evolutional insights into plant carnivory

Bacterial and Eukaryotic Small-Subunit Amplicon Data Do Not Provide a Quantitative Picture of Microbial Communities, but They Are Reliable in the Context of Ecological Interpretations

Correction to: Hunters or farmers? Microbiome characteristics help elucidate the diet composition in an aquatic carnivorous plant