The Venus flytrap is a symbol for “perseverance.” This is because the plant remains sulkily closed for a few hours after failing to capture a visiting fly before restarting. The mouth opens up once more to try againa fresh round with fresh prospects.
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What is the Venus flytrap’s symbiotic interaction with insects?
The plant will produce acidic chemicals that will digest its victim once the flytrap has closed and the insect has been captured by the lobes and hairs of the plant. The Venus flytrap, in other terms, eats bugs alive! Considering that most plants produce their own food through photosynthesis, this is highly unusual for a plant.
What does the name Venus flytrap mean?
Originally called “Venus’s flytrap,” the plant’s popular name alludes to Venus, the Roman goddess of love. The species name, muscipula, is Latin for both “mousetrap” and “flytrap,” while the generic name, Dionaea (“daughter of Dione”), relates to the Greek goddess Aphrodite. The Latin word muscipula, which means “mousetrap,” comes from the words mus and decipula, whereas its homonym, muscipula, meaning “flytrap,” comes from the words musca and decipula (“trap”).
Historically, the plant was also referred to as “tippity twitchet” or “tipitiwitchet,” which may have been a subtle allusion to the plant’s likeness to human female genitalia. The phrase is comparable to tippet-de-witchet, which is made up of the words tippet and witchet (archaic term for vagina). In contrast, the name tippitywichit was a native term from either the Cherokee or Catawba languages, according to the English botanist John Ellis, who gave the plant its scientific name in 1768. The Renape term titipiwitshik, which means “those (leaves) which wind about (or involve),” is the source of the plant’s name, according to the Handbook of American Indians.
How does the Venus flytrap entice prey?
Insects are what the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) eats. With its flower-like scarlet color and rich fruity scent on leaves transformed into ambush traps, it invites a meal. An insect probing for nectar will unavoidably touch the leaves’ very sensitive sensory hairs. As a result, the trap closes in an instant, trapping the prey inside.
The amount of energy to devote to the capture and consumption must then be decided by Dionaea. By keeping track of how frequently it touches the sensory hairs, it determines the size of the prey. Dionaea activates a unique hormone with just two touches. The plant creates transport proteins and enzymes to break down and absorb the prey with five or more stimuli.
However, what genes make the trap what it is? How did the plant evolve to become an animal’s food source? This mystery has been solved by Professors Rainer Hedrich (Biophysics) and Jrg Schultz (Bioinformatics), both of Julius-Maximilians-Universitt Wrzburg (JMU) in Bavaria, Germany. The scientific publication Genome Research features their findings.
Surprisingly, the investigations showed that the Dionaea trap had active genes that are typically restricted to roots in addition to active genes that are typical of leaves. But how is it possible for the trap to be both a leaf and a root at once? The many glands that thickly cover the trap surface are where the scientists discovered the solution.
Three cellular layers make up the dome-shaped glands. Cells responsible for excreting digestive enzymes make up the outer layer. The second layer contains cells with many folds in their envelopes; comparable structures that increase surface area can be found in human intestines. Hedrich speculates, “We assume that this is the site of nutrient intake.
The cells of the third layer are heavily packed with oil bodies. The gene activation pattern in insect traps supports the concept that they could provide the fat for the two outer cell layers’ energy needs.
Chitin exoskeletons provide protection for insects. The Venus flytrap uses specialized digesting enzymes that are created once the sensory hairs detect a stimulus to break through its protective layer. If the hairs are not further stimulated, it will go away. The scientists discovered that when an experimenter or a trapped bug is repeatedly stimulated, enzyme synthesis rises for several days.
But what if the prey passes away soon after being caught? For the Venus flytrap, this is not a problem because the chitin receptor ensures that ongoing enzyme production so that the plant may continue to “taste” the insect. Even more than a mechanical stimulus, chitin increases the production of enzymes.
Therefore, the Venus flytrap’s digestive fluids begin to flow when chitin is present because it signals the existence of food. “Contact with chitin generally signifies peril for a plant – insects that will devour it,” Hedrich explains. Ordinarily, this prompts defense mechanisms.
“These protective mechanisms have undergone reprogramming in the Venus flytrap over the course of evolution. They are being consumed by the plant as insects, “The professor continues. The non-carnivorous plant thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana), which exhibits the exact same pattern of gene activation as the Venus flytrap when it captures its prey, was examined by the JMU researchers in order to reach this result.
The best match is made when an insect feeds on or mechanically harms thale cress. The physiological reactions are also comparable. An electrical impulse produced by harming thale cress causes the defensive hormone jasmonate to become active. The same hormone is activated by touching the sensory hairs of the Venus flytrap.
After that, the signal paths diverge. The hormone begins the creation of chemicals that poison, discourage, or make the leaves difficult to digest in order to ward off insects. The hormone starts the meal’s digestion and nutritional absorption in this carnivorous plant.
Hedrich reveals with satisfaction that the team has successfully decoded the chemical basis of the carnivorous lifestyle of the Venus flytrap. Since 2010, he has worked toward achieving this objective as part of the “Carnivorom” project, which the European Union (EU) has supported with 2.5 million euros.
“We will now compare the genomes of plants that are carnivorous, including their protocarnivorous ancestors like Plumbago and plants whose stages of development alternate between being carnivorous and non-carnivorous like Triphyophyllum or the tropical liana Ancistrocladus, which later gave up being carnivorous. In the end, we’re interested in learning what tools a plant needs to eat and survive off of animals.”
Possibly touching a Venus flytrap
Dionaea muscipula, the Venus flytrap, is uninspiring to poke with a finger. One of the plant’s traps can be made to close if you insert your finger into it and move it around. You won’t get hurt, but you might hurt the plant. The flytrap’s trap part is made up of leaves that can only close so many times before they pass away, therefore overstimulating them will only expedite their demise. Springing the plant’s leaves close also prevents them from being used for photosynthesis. People frequently assume that when instructed not to touch a Venus flytrap, it is for their own protection. In actuality, the plant is safeguarded by this warning.
Are Venus fly traps uncommon?
Venus flytraps are uncommon and under protection. 200 of them were dug up, according to NC authorities. According to a wildlife officer, a North Carolina man who was nabbed on Saturday with more than 200 Venus flytraps is now behind bars for stealing the endangered species.
Can a human be harmed by a Venus flytrap?
After capturing the fly, the venus flytrap employs digestive enzymes to break down the fly’s soft tissue before ingesting it as a wholesome meal. A week after a catch, the trap reopens and is ready for another, using what’s left of the fly to draw in fresh prey.
Venus flytraps are powerful plants, yet they don’t always work. When larger insects get caught, like spiders, they can easily eat through the plant to get away, and if the plant absorbs the incorrect insects, it may suffer damage.
Do venus flytraps have brains?
According to research published in the 2020 issue of Nature Plants, Venus flytraps’ short-term memory is made possible by sophisticated calcium signaling. The leaves close when enough calcium is found in them.
Can a venus flytrap hurt a person?
A venus flytrap is incapable of harming a person. In fact, putting your finger in a venus flytrap will inflict more harm to the plant than to you because it will have to use more energy than is necessary.
The truth is that humans threaten venus flytraps considerably more than they do other species. If not properly cared for, these carnivorous plants can quickly be destroyed. For instance, they require special compost and cannot be fed tap water. See more below about this.
What are the uses of venus flytraps?
For hundreds of years, various populations used carnivorous plants in traditional medicine all across the world. Butterworts (Pinguicula vulgaris, Pinguicula alpina) were used to cure wounds throughout Europe and North America. People with respiratory conditions like pertussis, bronchitis, and asthma were given decoctions of butterworts and sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) for their expectorant and antitussive effects as well as to treat stomach pain and tuberculosis. Sundews were also employed for their aphrodisiac and delivery-promoting characteristics, which were considered to be magical. In the present day, the pharmaceutical sector uses this kind of plant to make cough syrups. Sundew leaves exude a fresh juice that is applied locally to treat warts or bunions (35,38).
The indigenous population of North America employed the roots and leaves of the purple pitcher plant Sarracenia purpurea for its diuretic and laxative effects as well as to treat fever, cough, and diabetes. Other contagious illnesses including scarlet fever, smallpox, and measles were also treated with the plant. Additionally, pregnant women were given plant decoctions to help with labor, avoid postpartum illness, and cure irregular periods (35,37, 39, 40).
Nepenthes khasiana, a pitcher plant, was utilized medicinally by local tribes in South-East Asia and India. To treat stomach pain, eye problems (pain, cataract, night blindness), urinary problems as well as skin disorders, they employed the juice of young flowers, pitchers that had not been opened, or pitcher powder that had been crushed. Patients with cholera, leprosy, and malaria also received preparations (41,46).
The only species of the genus Dionaea, the Venus flytrap (D. muscipula Solander ex Ellis), is a carnivorous plant that grows in marshy regions of North and South Carolina states in the United States (Figure).
After the Venus flytrap shuts, what happens?
Perhaps the best known of the insectivorous (insect-eating) plants, the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) demonstrates a unique system through which it attracts, kills, digests and absorbs its prey. The Venus flytrap doesn’t eat and digest its prey for the customary non-plant purposes of gathering energy and carbon because it is a plant and can create its own food through photosynthesis. Instead, it primarily mines its prey for vital nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus in particular) that are scarce in its acidic, marshy home. So, certainly, the digestive system of the Venus flytrap is fairly similar to that of an animal, but it serves somewhat distinct functions.
How does a stationary organism draw in, kill, break down, and absorb its prey? It first entices its prey with sweet-smelling nectar that is hidden on its leaves, which resemble steel traps. Unwary prey accidentally trip over the bristly trigger hairs on the leaf while looking for a reward and become imprisoned behind the interlocking teeth of the leaf edges. Each leaf has between three and six trigger hairs on its surface. The cells on the leaf’s outer surface expand quickly if the same hair is touched again, or if two hairs are touched within a 20-second period, and the trap closes swiftly. If uric acid or other insect secretions activate the trap, it will tighten its grip on the prey and create an airtight seal. (If tripped by an onlooker or a dead branch falling from the sky, the trap will reopen after about a day.) Once the trap is shut, fluids are released from the digestive glands that line the inside edge of the leaf, killing bacteria and fungi while also dissolving the soft parts of the prey and dissecting the insect with enzymes to release the vital nutrients. Five to twelve days after capture, the trap will reopen to release the exoskeleton that was still inside the leaf after it has taken these nutrients. The trap will stop catching prey after three to five meals and spend the next two to three months purely photosynthesizing before falling off the plant. A Venus flytrap should not be overstimulated; after about 10 unsuccessful attempts to close the trap, the leaf will stop responding to touch and become just a photosynthetic organ.
The coastal North and South Carolina sand shrub bogs are where the Venus flytrap lives, and it is categorized as an endangered species there. Venus flytraps are supported by an ecology that is frequently burned, which eliminates rival plants and causes the soil’s nitrogen to volatilize. Hence, Venus flytraps have a corner on the nitrogen market immediately following fire, when they get three quarters of their nitrogen supply from insect prey. However, competition from other plants limits the Venus flytraps’ access to light and insects after ten years, and populations start to drop. Venus flytraps offer an interesting illustration of how organisms adjust to challenging circumstances, in this case acting as predators to compensate for the lack of nutrients in the nearby soil.
Can my Venus flytrap be saved?
Will my Venus flytrap survive?
Have Venus fly traps any intelligence?
The scientists inserted the calcium sensor protein gene GCaMP6 to observe what occurred when a stimulation was received. Then they would apply a stimulus, followed by another stimulation, to see if the calcium content in the plant’s cells rose. Ca2+ had been suspected in earlier research, which is not surprising given that calcium ions are required for numerous biological activities. One sensory hair received the first stimulus via a needle. Within 0.02 seconds, the leaf’s Ca2+ concentration surged noticeably. Although it fell for a little while after that, the leaf really started to glow when the concentration spiked in response to the second stimulus.
“Ca2+ ions are present in large levels outside of cells but in relatively small amounts inside of cells prior to activation. Ca2+ from outside the cell enters the cell when it recognizes an external stimulus. “GCaMP6f themselves in cells create fluorescence when GCaMP6 binds to Ca2+,” Hasebe explained.
If the interval between shocks was less than 30 seconds and the concentration of Ca2+ was sufficient, the trap would only close. Even though the Venus flytrap lacks a brain, it can retain short-term memory with enough of a calcium ion boost. One leaf “jaw” to the next was illuminated. There are sensory cells at the base of the hair that alert the Venus flytrap when to seize a bug, therefore there was a particularly noticeable increase there. According to Hasebe, this meat-eating plant may not have always been interested in flies, even if it exhibits an increase in calcium when cues cause it to close its trap over prey.
When plants are consumed by insects, he explained, “calcium waves are found in non-carnivorous plants.” “Such preexisting systems that were used for purposes other than carnivory may have been recruited by the progenitor of Dionaea.”
It actually took Suda several years of trial and error to figure out how the Venus flytrap could remember. He only understood what could eventually shed light on the plant’s enigmatic memory when he spotted a transgenic plant that had been given the GCaMP6 gene glowing in the dark. This finding might serve as the starting point for further investigation into the origins of carnivory in plants.