Abstract
The study of carnivorous plants can afford insight into their unique evolutionary adaptations and their interactions with prokaryotic and eukaryotic species. For Sarracenia (pitcher plants), we identified 64 quantitative trait loci (QTL) for insect-capture traits of the pitchers, providing the genetic basis for differences between the pitfall and lobster-trap strategies of insect capture. The linkage map developed here is based upon the F2 of a cross between Sarracenia rosea and Sarracenia psittacina; we mapped 437 single nucleotide polymorphism and simple sequence repeat markers. We measured pitcher traits which differ between S. rosea and S. psittacina, mapping 64 QTL for 17 pitcher traits; there are hot-spot locations where multiple QTL map near each other. There are epistatic interactions in many cases where there are multiple loci for a trait. The QTL map uncovered the genetic basis for the differences between pitfall- and lobster-traps, and the changes that occurred during the divergence of these species. The longevity and clonability of Sarracenia plants make the F2 mapping population a resource for mapping more traits and for phenotype-to-genotype studies.
Highlights
Insect-eating plants fascinate scientists and the general public; Darwin was so taken with their unique adaptations that he used the word “wonderful” 15 times in his descriptions of them (Darwin, 1888)
Most of the markers we used for genetic mapping were single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) identified by sequencing from RNA (RARseq) or DNA (RADseq), plus there were a few simple sequence repeat markers (SSRs)
The final total of 437 is made up of 343 RNA-based SNPs, 78 DNA-based SNPs, and 16 SSRs. These are distributed into 42 linkage groups with a total length of 2,017 cM; 12 of the linkage groups contain a small number of markers and are less than 10 cM in length
Summary
Insect-eating plants fascinate scientists and the general public; Darwin was so taken with their unique adaptations that he used the word “wonderful” 15 times in his descriptions of them (Darwin, 1888). The carnivorous behavior of plants evolved independently, possibly as many as nine times (Givnish, 2015; Wheeler & Carstens, 2018) These organisms live in nutrient poor conditions, such as wetland bogs, and are able to obtain minerals, primarily nitrogen and phosphorous, from capturing and digesting insect prey (Darwin, 1888; Ellison & Adamec, 2018; Adlassnig et al, 2012; Bradshaw & Creelman, 1984). Their leaves are specialized to perform multiple functions; secrete attractive scents (Jurgens et al, 2009), capture insects, secrete extracellular digestive enzymes, absorb nutrients, photosynthesize, and develop microbial symbioses. Until this report, a classic genetic linkage mapping approach has not been implemented with these systems; we have used pitcher plants of the genus Sarracenia to develop such a genetic map
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