Bittleston Lab

Publications:

D'Andrea, R., Khattar, G., Koffel, T., Frans, V., Bittleston, L. S., Cuellar-Gempeler, C. 2024. Reciprocal inhibition and competitive hierarchy cause negative biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships. Ecology Letters 27:e14356 https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14356

Bittleston L.S.*, Wolock C.J.*, Maeda J., Infante V., Ané J.M., Pierce N.E., and Pringle A. 2023. Carnivorous Nepenthes pitchers with less acidic fluid house nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Applied and Environmental Microbiology https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/aem.00812-23.

*Contributed equally to this work.

Shaffer, J.P., Nothias, LF., Thompson, L.R. et al. 2022. Standardized multi-omics of Earth’s microbiomes reveals microbial and metabolite diversity. Nat Microbiol 7, 2128–2150. https://doi/10.1038/s41564-022-01266-x L.S.B listed as a coauthor as part of the EMP500 Consortium.

Bittleston, L.S., Benson, E.L., Bernardin, J.R. and Pierce, N.E. 2022. Characterization and comparison of convergence among Cephalotus follicularis pitcher plant-associated communities with those of Nepenthes and Sarracenia found worldwide. Front. Plant Sci. 13:887635. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.887635

Heil, J.A., Wolock, C.J., Pierce, N.E., Pringle, A, and Bittleston, L.S. 2022. Sarracenia pitcher plant-associated microbial communities differ primarily by host species across a longitudinal gradient. Environmental Microbiology https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.15993

Goyal, A., Bittleston, L.S., Leventhal, G.E., Lu, L., Cordero, O.X. 2022. Interactions between strains govern the eco-evolutionary dynamics of microbial communities. eLife 11:e74987 DOI: 10.7554/eLife.74987

Bittleston, L.S., Freedman, Z.B., Bernardin, J.R., Grothjan, J.J., Young, E.B., Record, S., Baiser, B., Gray, S.M. 2021. Exploring microbiome functional dynamics through space and time with trait-based theory. mSystems 6:e00530-21. https://doi.org/10.1128/mSystems.00530-21

Bittleston, L.S., Gralka, M., Leventhal, G.E., Mizrahi, I., Cordero, O.X. 2020. Context-dependent dynamics lead to the assembly of functionally distinct microbial communities. Nature Communications 11, 1440. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15169-0

Gilbert, K.J., Bittleston, L.S., Naive, M.A.K., Kiszewski, A.E., Buenavente, P.A.C., Lohman, D.J., Pierce, N.E. 2020. Investigation of an elevational gradient reveals strong differences between bacterial and eukaryotic communities coinhabiting Nepenthes phytotelmata. Microbial Ecology https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-020-01503-y

Shoemaker, L.G., Barner, A.K., Bittleston, L.S. and Teufel, A.I. 2020. Quantifying the relative importance of variation in predation and the environment for species coexistence. Ecology Letters doi:10.1111/ele.13482

Gilbert, K.J., Bittleston, L.S., Tong, W., Pierce, N.E. 2020. Tropical pitcher plants (Nepenthes) act as ecological filters by altering properties of their fluid microenvironments. Science Reports 10, 4431 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-61193-x

Bittleston, L.S., Wolock, C.J., Yahya, B.E., Chan, X.Y., Chan, K.C., Pierce, N.E., and Pringle, A. 2018. Convergence between the microcosms of Southeast Asian and North American pitcher plants. eLife 2018;7:e36741 DOI: 10.7554/eLife.36741

UW-Madison News "An ocean apart, carnivorous pitcher plants create similar communities." By Eric Hamilton, 28 August 2018. 

The Harvard Gazette “Pitcher plants build own communities.” By Peter Reuell, 26 September 2018.

Beautiful illustrated summary by Caroline Hu, 22 January 2019.

Bittleston, L.S. Commensals of Nepenthes pitchers. 2018. In Ellison, A.M., and Adamec, L. (Eds.), Carnivorous plants: physiology, ecology and evolution. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Order here.

Baker, C.C.M., Bittleston, L.S., Sanders, J.G., and Pierce, N.E. 2016. Dissecting host-associated communities with DNA barcodes. Philosophical Transactions B DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0328.

Bittleston, L.S., Pierce, N.E., Ellison, A.M., and Pringle, A. 2016. Convergence in multispecies interactions. TREE 31: 269-280

Bittleston L.S., Baker, C.C.M., Strominger, L.B., Pringle, A. and Pierce, N. E. 2016. Metabarcoding as a tool for investigating arthropod diversity in Nepenthes pitcher plants. Austral Ecology 41: 120-132

Coletta-Filho, H.D., Bittleston, L.S., Lopes, J.R.S., Daugherty, M.P., and Almeida, R.P.P. 2015. Genetic distance may underlie virulence differences among isolates of a bacterial plant pathogen. Journal of Plant Pathology 97: 465-469

Bittleston L.S., Brockmann, F., Wcislo, W. and Van Bael, S.A. 2011. Endophytic fungi reduce leaf-cutting ant damage to seedlings. Biology Letters 7: 30–32

Degnan, P.H.*, Bittleston, L.S.*, Hansen, A.K., Sabree, Z.L., Moran, N.A. and Almeida, R.P.P. 2011. Origin and examination of a leafhopper facultative endosymbiont. Current Microbiology 62: 1565-1572
*Contributed equally to this work.

Coletta-Filho, H.D., Bittleston, L.S. and Almeida, R.P.P. 2011. Spatial genetic structure of a vector-borne generalist pathogen. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 77: 2596-2601

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