Pereztorres et al., "Transcriptomics and molecular evolutionary rate analysis of the
bladderwort (Utricularia), a carnivorous plant with a minimal genome," BMC Plant Biology, vol.
Food composition of aquatic
bladderworts (Utricularia, Lentibulariaceae) in various habitats.
That is, at three distinct times in the course of its evolution, the
bladderwort's genome doubled in size, with offspring receiving two full copies of the species' entire genome.
The scientists said that it seems that the plant has been busy deleting noncoding "junk" DNA from its genetic material over many generations, which may explain differences between
bladderworts and junk-heavy species like corn and tobacco - and humans.
Scientists, including the famous naturalist Charles Darwin, have marveled at the
bladderwort's traps for more than 100 years.
Unexpectedly, at the lowest nitrogen level, trapping of Euglena depressed plant growth, apparently because it competed with the
bladderwort for nitrogen under these conditions -- the prey here acting as a parasite.
Obligatory tedium began with unregulated steward calcification of the most horrid sort; pleasantries aside, shimmying along amnesia's inner membrane wasn't so much like Yahweh's clattering as one might not have thought had one not been cleansed by the temptress of
bladderwort confusion.
By the photos on a Northwest Ontario website, I positively identified our nemeses: milfoil, horsetail,
bladderwort, bulrush, arrowhead, and duckweed.
Rootless and adrift in its wetland habitat, the humped
bladderwort (Utricularia gibba) preys on water fleas and other small invertebrates.
On its southern shore is a fen, where visitors can find cranberries and insect-eating plants such as sundew, pitcher plant and
bladderwort.
To test this hypothesis, I aim to develop a model system for carnivorous plants based on Utricularia gibba (humped
bladderwort), which has the advantage of having one of the smallest genomes known in plants (~2/3 the size of the Arabidopsis genome) and small transparent pitcher-shaped leaves amenable to imaging.
Pond-dwelling
bladderwort Giant water lily The Palm House at Kew Titan arum at Kew Stunning orchid
