Abstract
Glands of Drosera absorb and transport nutrients from captured prey, but the mechanism and dynamics remain unclear. In this study, we offered animal proteins in the form of fluorescent albumin (FITC-BSA) and observed the reactions of the glands by live cell imaging and fluorescence microscopy. The ultrastructure of these highly dynamic processes was also assessed in high-pressure frozen and freeze substituted (HPF-FS) cells. HPF-FS yielded excellent preservation of the cytoplasm of all cell types, although the cytosol looked different in gland cells as compared to endodermoid and stalk cells. Especially prominent were the ER and its contacts with the plasma membrane, plasmodesmata, and other organelles as well as continuities between organelles. Also distinct were actin microfilaments in association with ER and organelles. Application of FITC-BSA to glands caused the formation of fluorescent endosomes that pinched off the plasma membrane. Endosomes fused to larger aggregates, and accumulated in the bulk cytoplasm around the nucleus. They did not fuse with the cell sap vacuole but remained for at least three days; in addition, fluorescent vesicles also proceeded through endodermoid and transfer cells to the epidermal and parenchymal cells of the tentacle stalk.
Highlights
Drosera is one of the largest and most diverse genera of carnivorous plants (CPs)
We provide new information about the dynamic properties of gland cells of carnivorous plants when stimulated by exogeneously applied protein
Fluorescent proteins are absorbed by gland cells through endocytosis
Summary
The structure and physiology of these plants have been of great interest ever since Darwin (1875) described their carnivorous nature, because of the exceptional way they acquire nutrition, and because of their economic importance in pharmacy due to their antimicrobial metabolites and their sticky, trapping glue (Grevenstuk et al 2009; Sprague-Piercy et al 2020). In memory of Ursula Lütz-Meindl Handling Editor: Andreas Holzinger stalk, or tentacle, that bears a multicellular glandular head. The tentacles absorb the digested nutrients, as they actively move over the prey. This remarkable multiple function of the Drosera tentacles has made them an important object of investigations about general questions of morphology, physiology, ecology, and evolution of carnivorous plants. Despite a wealth of information, which has been summarized (Lloyd 1942; Juniper et al 1989; Ellison and Adamec 2018), many vexing questions about absorption and transport of prey substances remain unsolved
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