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Darwin’s expedition revisited to reveal the evolution of plant–microbe interactions on Galápagos

Nature Microbiology volume 9, pages 1903–1905 (2024)Cite this article

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The Galápagos archipelago is situated approximately 1,000 km from the coast of Ecuador and consists of 13 main islands and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean. The islands arose from repeated volcanic activity and are relatively young in geological terms, ranging from around 0.5 to 4 million years old. The heterogeneity of ecosystems within and across these islands, as well as their remote geographic isolation, led to the evolution of unique endemic fauna and flora. The biodiversity of the Galápagos islands showcases classic examples of adaptive radiation mechanisms, where a single ancestral species diversified into a variety of forms to survive in different ecological niches. For this reason, the Galápagos and other oceanic islands are referred to as natural laboratories of evolution.

During his visit to the Galápagos in 1835, Charles Darwin was inspired by the phenotypic fauna and flora diversity. Although Darwin is most recognized for his work on animal species, which contributed to his theory of evolution by natural selection1, a large part of his scientific investigations included plants2. To date, few studies have reported the diversity of microorganisms associated with terrestrial and marine species such as iguanas, coral reef fishes, turtles and penguins3 living on Galápagos. Studies on microorganisms associated with the endemic plants of Galápagos, such as the genus Scalesia (Asteraceae, Asterales and Magnoliidae) — the focus of our research — are lacking.

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Fig. 1: Expedition journey to characterize the Scalesia plant microbiome across the Galápagos islands.

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Acknowledgements

SMP was funded by the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) and the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW). Scalesia sampling was performed in compliance with the research permit no. MAATE-DBI-CM-2021-0174 granted by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition (MAATE). The contribution of the expedition members was financially supported by their respective institutes listed in the affiliations above. We thank the Barcode Galápagos project, supported by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) and the Newton Fund: Agile Response call to address COVID-19, as a joint venture between the Galápagos Science Center (GSC), Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), University of Exeter, Agency of Regulation and Control of the Biosecurity and Quarantine for Galápagos (ABG), Galápagos Conservation Trust and the Municipal Government of Isabela Island. We thank the Galápagos National Park Directorate (DPNG) for their support and permit approval. We thank C. Mena, S. Tacle, A. León-Reyes, D. Ramírez, N. Barriga, L. Zurita, I. Astudillo-Estévez, C. Vintimilla, G. Gavilanes, S. Escobar, P. Yépez, A. Carrión and G. Bautista for their support during the preparation for the expedition and help processing part of the samples. We thank R. Kolter for his inspiring ideas and his book Microbes and Evolution: the World that Darwin Never Saw. We also thank the ‘Yualka’ crew members for assisting with the daily logistics and team spirit during the expedition. We thank C. Gavela and M. Davila for helping with designing the map, and F. Rienks for assisting with the SMP outreach activities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, the Netherlands

    Viviane Cordovez, Víctor J. Carrión, Haig Balian & Jos M. Raaijmakers

  2. Departamento de Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias, Campus Universitario de Teatinos, Universidad de Málaga, Málaga, Spain

    Víctor J. Carrión

  3. Departamento de Protección de Cultivos, Instituto de Hortofruticultura Subtropical y Mediterránea La Mayora (IHSM) UMA-CSIC, Málaga, Spain

    Víctor J. Carrión

  4. Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands

    Víctor J. Carrión & Jos M. Raaijmakers

  5. Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales, Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), Quito, Ecuador

    Gonzalo Rivas Torres, Jaime Chaves, Diana A. Pazmiño & Pieter van ’t Hof

  6. Estación de Biodiversidad Tiputini, Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales, Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), Quito, Ecuador

    Gonzalo Rivas Torres & Pieter van ’t Hof

  7. Galápagos Science Center, Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, San Cristóbal, Ecuador

    Gonzalo Rivas Torres, Diego A. Ortiz, Adriana Karina Vivanco, Jaime Chaves, Diana A. Pazmiño & Pieter van ’t Hof

  8. Directorate of Galápagos National Park, Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz, Ecuador

    Wilson Cabrera

  9. Grupo de Fitopatología y Biotecnología de Hongos (FITOBIOL), Instituto de Biología, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia

    Juan E. Pérez-Jaramillo

  10. Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Jaime Chaves

  11. Instituto de Microbiología, Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales, Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), Quito, Ecuador

    Pieter van ’t Hof

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  1. Viviane Cordovez
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  2. Víctor J. Carrión
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  4. Diego A. Ortiz
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  5. Wilson Cabrera
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  6. Haig Balian
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  9. Jaime Chaves
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  12. Jos M. Raaijmakers
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Viviane Cordovez, Pieter van ’t Hof or Jos M. Raaijmakers.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Cordovez, V., Carrión, V.J., Rivas Torres, G. et al. Darwin’s expedition revisited to reveal the evolution of plant–microbe interactions on Galápagos. Nat Microbiol 9, 1903–1905 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-024-01749-z

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