Gravity affects the closure of the traps in Dionaea muscipula.

Camilla Pandolfi,Stefano Mancuso,Boris Voigt,Sergio Mugnai,Elisa Masi,Dieter Volkmann

doi:10.1155/2014/964203

Camilla Pandolfi, Stefano Mancuso + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/964203

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Abstract

Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula Ellis) is a carnivorous plant known for its ability to capture insects thanks to the fast snapping of its traps. This fast movement has been long studied and it is triggered by the mechanical stimulation of hairs, located in the middle of the leaves. Here we present detailed experiments on the effect of microgravity on trap closure recorded for the first time during a parabolic flight campaign. Our results suggest that gravity has an impact on trap responsiveness and on the kinetics of trap closure. The possible role of the alterations of membrane permeability induced by microgravity on trap movement is discussed. Finally we show how the Venus flytrap could be an easy and effective model plant to perform studies on ion channels and aquaporin activities, as well as on electrical activity in vivo on board of parabolic flights and large diameter centrifuges.

Highlights

The response of Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) to mechanical stimulation has long been known, and it is one of the most rapid movements in the plant kingdom [1, 2].The plant produces a rosette of leaves, each divided into two parts: a lower part called the lamina and the upper part called the trap
Our results suggest that gravity has an impact on trap responsiveness and on the kinetics of trap closure
Volkov et al described the trap closure as consisting of three different phases [9]: (1) a mechanically silent period with no observable movement immediately after stimulation; (2) the period when the movement starts accelerating; (3) the fast movement of the trap, when the leaves quickly relax to the new equilibrium state

Summary

Introduction

The response of Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) to mechanical stimulation has long been known, and it is one of the most rapid movements in the plant kingdom [1, 2]. The struggling of the entrapped prey in the closed trap results in the generation of further action potentials which cease to occur just when the prey stops moving These APs may induce inhibition of the dark reaction of photosynthesis [10] showing that chlorophyll-A fluorescence is under electrochemical control [11]. In the present study we report the effect of microgravity on trap closure conducted during a parabolic flight campaign This gave us the opportunity to test Dionaea muscipula as possible candidate to study the effect of gravity on the electrical activity of organisms by monitoring the variation in the excitability of the traps and the alteration in the kinetics of their closure. The changes in the kinetics of trap closure gave us important hints on the mechanism at the base of the fast trap snapping

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Discussion