Project:

The endophyte's endophytes: the microbial partners of the endangered plant parasite Rafflesia and potential applications in cons

Students:

Chloe Li, Hudson Margolis

Institution:

Long Island University-Brooklyn, Brooklyn

Mentors:

JEANMAIRE MOLINA

Abstract:

Rafflesia is an endangered parasitic plant that produces the largest single flowers in the world. Rafflesia is an endophyte, a plant living inside the vines of another plant, its sole host, Tetrastigma. Both are endemic to the dwindling forests of Southeast Asia. Effective techniques for propagating the plant away from its natural habitat so far have been unsuccessful. Plants harbor a diverse microbiome–bacterial endophytes residing within plant tissues that offer mutualistic benefits to their plant partners such as enhancement of growth and pathogen resistance. In this study, the team will characterize and analyze the microbiome of Rafflesia and its host plants to better understand their microbial ecology and how these bacterial endophytes potentially affect their plant partners. Our goal is to understand whether there are bacterial phylogenetic groups more associated with horizontal transfer between Rafflesia and its host, and these may be important in facilitating and sustaining R

Poster:

Team samples: