New research has shed more light on the highly specialized hunting mechanisms of Venus flytraps.
The way a Venus flytrap catches its food may seem like an easy open-and-shut case, but the carnivorous plant is in fact a calculating hunter.
To survive in the nutrient-poor soils of its native habitats in the bogs and savannas of the North and South Carolina, the Venus Flytrap has evolved as a meat eater. They sense the arrival of juicy insects, lured by the plants' fruity scent, with the aid of sensitive trigger hairs on the inner surfaces of their traps. Now, researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology have looked more closely at exactly how the plants decide when to keep their traps shut and begin producing their acidic, prey-decomposing cocktail of enzymes.
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"The carnivorous plant Dionaea muscipula, also known as Venus flytrap, can count how often it has been touched by an insect visiting its capture organ in order to trap and consume the animal prey," said Rainer Hedrich of Universität Würzburg in Germany.
Studies have shown that the flytrap, which can close shut in about one-tenth of a second, is so well crafted to its particular hunting method that it can tell the difference between a raindrop and actual prey — but this seemingly intelligent plant can be fooled.
The Venus flytrap wastes no time catching its prey. Video credit: LearjetMinako/Youtube (CC BY 3.0)
“If you just sit there and wait, the next morning, the trap will open and you can leave,” Hedrich said, according to The Atlantic. “[If] you panic, you induce a deadly cycle of disintegration.”
According to Cell Press, a second stroke of the trigger hairs causes the trap to close around the prey to form what Hedrich and his colleagues liken to a green stomach. As the prey attempt to escape, they wind up touching the mechano-sensitive trigger hairs again and again, which serves only to excite the plant further.
At this stage, the plant begins to produce a special touch hormone. After five triggers, glands on the inner surface of the trap also produce digestive enzymes and transporters to take up nutrients. This input also allows the plant to scale its production of costly ingredients to the size of the meal.
"The number of action potentials informs [the plant] about the size and nutrient content of the struggling prey," said Hedrich. "This allows the Venus flytrap to balance the cost and benefit of hunting."
Hedrich and his colleagues are now sequencing the Venus flytrap genome. In those sequences, they expect to find additional clues about the plants' sensory systems, the chemistry needed to support a carnivorous lifestyle, and how those traits have evolved over time.
Based on materials provided by Cell Press.
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