Characterization and global comparison of Cephalotus follicularis pitcher plant-associated microbial communities

The Albany pitcher plant, Cephalotus follicularis, has evolved cup-shaped leaves and a carnivorous habit completely independently from other lineages of pitcher plants. It is the only species in its family and is restricted to a small region of Western Australia. Here, we use metabarcoding to characterize the bacterial and eukaryotic communities living in C. follicularis pitchers at two different sites. We then compared C. follicularis-associated community diversity with that of Australian Nepenthes mirabilis, as well as a global comparison of Southeast Asian Nepenthes and North American Sarracenia.