Study Organisms

Carnivorous plants are exceptionally well suited to the study of evolutionary innovation, convergent evolution, co-option, and phenotypic plasticity. We work with a range of lineages as needed to address these questions.

We are collecting genome and transcriptome data across a broad diversity of carnivorous plants. Below are some of the species and lineages that are especially important in our research.

Cephalotus follicularis is a carnivorous plant endemic to southwestern Australia and the sole species in its family and genus. It captures small insects with pitfall traps. This species shows striking phenotypic plasticity, producing both pitcher-shaped trapping leaves and flat photosynthetic leaves depending on growing conditions. Because carnivorous leaves always evolved from photosynthetic leaves, this plant effectively preserves ancestral and derived traits side by side, making it an especially useful system for studying evolutionary transitions.

In contrast to taxonomically isolated Cephalotus, the genus Nepenthes contains nearly 200 species, and new species continue to be described. In addition to carnivory, it shows other intriguing features, such as dioecy, which is relatively uncommon in plants, and a genomic structure that preserves traces of ancient polyploidy. Because Nepenthes and Cephalotus both evolved pitcher traps, they together provide a useful system for studying convergent evolution.

This bromeliad is thought to represent one of the youngest carnivorous-plant lineages on Earth. It is an attractive system for studying the early stages of carnivorous-plant evolution.

Triphyophyllum peltatum is a carnivorous plant from West Africa. It is extremely rare and almost never encountered in cultivation or trade. It is the only species in its genus, shows phenotypic plasticity, and produces sticky trapping leaves only during the rainy season while young, which is why it is often described as a “part-time carnivore.” This is interesting in itself, but its close relatives, Dioncophyllum and Ancistrocladus, are thought to have lost carnivory completely. Comparing these taxa gives us a way to study the degeneration of carnivorous traits. Because cultivation methods for this lineage are not yet established, we pursue this work in collaboration with the Botanical Garden of the University of Wuerzburg.

We have successfully established Cuscuta parasitism on carnivorous plants. We are now using this experimental system to develop new research focused on nutrient transport between the two plants.

These bacteria underpin much of our molecular biology. E. coli is a dependable partner for isolating, recombining, amplifying, expressing, and functionally analyzing genes. Agrobacterium is a soil bacterium with the remarkable ability to deliver DNA into plant cells and integrate it into the genome, making it indispensable for modifying plant traits.

Transitions from aquatic ancestors to life on land have occurred repeatedly across the tree of life. Isopod crustaceans such as giant isopods, sea slaters, woodlice, and pill bugs are excellent material for exploring how terrestrialization occurred.

Ferns have a unique life cycle in which both the haploid gametophyte and diploid sporophyte live as independent, autotrophic bodies. They are therefore key systems for studying the evolution of reproduction and development in land plants.

Gymnosperms such as cycads and ginkgo are plant lineages with reproductive modes that differ from those of flowering plants. Many species become large trees, yet they are indispensable for understanding the evolution of land plants.

Bamboos belong to the grass subfamily Bambusoideae and are known for clonal reproduction and rare flowering. We use omics analyses as an entry point to approach these mysteries.