Article
Biology
Anne-Kristin Lenz, Ulrike Bauer
Summary: Carnivorous pitcher plants, such as Nepenthes gracilis, use raindrop impact energy to trigger a fast pivoting motion of the pitcher lid, capturing insects. Our study revealed distinct deformation patterns in the lid-trapping N. gracilis and pitfall-trapping N. rafflesiana, suggesting an anisotropic impact response that maximizes prey capture forces and dampens oscillation. The results highlight the importance of pitcher geometry in the effective trapping mechanism of N. gracilis.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Mathias Scharmann, Andreas Wistuba, Alex Widmer
Summary: The evolutionary history of Nepenthes, a genus of around 160 species of carnivorous plants mainly found in tropical Asia, is around 5 million years old. The study confirms previous bifurcating phylogenies and reveals the importance of introgression and hybridization in plant evolution. Organellar capture, admixture graphs, and phylogenetic network analyses provide evidence of introgression events within and between different clades of the main radiation of Nepenthes.
MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alberto Davila-Lara, Asifur Rahman-Soad, Michael Reichelt, Axel Mithofer
Summary: This study investigated the interaction between the pitcher plant Nepenthes x ventrata and the generalist lepidopteran herbivore Spodoptera littoralis using chemical analytics and feeding assays. The results showed that Nepenthes defends against herbivores through the compound plumbagin, which reduces weight gain in herbivore larvae. Additionally, inducible trypsin protease inhibitor activity was identified as another defense mechanism. Further research is needed to understand the regulation of these defenses.
Article
Plant Sciences
Ondrej Kocab, Michaela Bacovcinova, Boris Bokor, Marek Sebela, Rene Lenobel, Caroline R. Schoner, Michael G. Schoner, Andrej Pavlovic
Summary: The Nepenthes hemsleyana, which feeds on faeces, requires less digestive enzymes compared to its close relative Nepenthes rafflesiana that relies on insects, but both species show upregulation of enzyme activity in response to faeces and insect feeding. Contrary to expectations, the final nepenthesin proteolytic activity in the digestive fluid is higher in response to faeces addition than to insect prey, indicating that faeces can mimic arthropod prey triggering the production of digestive enzymes and N. hemsleyana retained capacity for production of them.
PLANT PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Andrej Pavlovic, Ondrej Kocab
Summary: The pitcher traps of Nepenthes species contain a high amount of AOX enzyme and a low amount of COX II enzyme, but have lower abundance of photosynthesis-related proteins. This finding reveals the important role of AOX in the traps.
Review
Biology
Urszula Krasuska, Agnieszka Wal, Pawel Staszek, Katarzyna Ciacka, Agnieszka Gniazdowska
Summary: Carnivorous plants attract and digest animals using specialised traps, with the involvement of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) that play various roles in digestion, including antimicrobial activities and signal transduction.
Article
Plant Sciences
Cora F. Carmesin, Andreas S. Fleischmann, Matthias M. Klepsch, Anna S. Westermeier, Thomas Speck, Steven Jansen, Simon Poppinga
Summary: The study reveals that the underground eel traps of corkskrew plants have structural gradients and hydraulic anisotropy, suggesting a highly fine-tuned system for efficient prey movement, retention, and digestion capacities. It also indicates that the retrorse hairs inside the trap neck provide resistance against the movement of matter towards the vesicle, contributing to the ongoing debate on whether these traps can actively generate water streams to promote prey capture.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jennifer Boehm, Soenke Scherzer
Summary: The article summarizes the significant advances in plant electrical signal transduction, focusing on the carnivorous Venus flytrap. It examines different types of electrical signals, their underlying ion fluxes, and summarizes the carnivorous processes downstream of the electrical signals.
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Yue Wang, Huijuan Mao, Yunhao Lv, Guogang Chen, Ying Jiang
Summary: The study shows that high humidity conditions can maintain the content and structure of cuticular wax in Korla pear, which is beneficial for regulating fruit quality and delaying fruit ripening and aging. Cuticular wax plays a crucial role in maintaining fruit moisture, cell wall integrity, and delaying senescence.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
P. C. Bollada, P. K. Jimack, A. M. Mullis
Summary: In this study, phase field was used to simulate hopper crystals, which are characterized by a cubic structure with depressions on each face. Previous simulations have successfully explored dendritic structures formed under high undercooling, but hopper crystals, which are a hybrid between perfect cubes and dendrites, have not been studied. This paper presents a model for faceted cubic growth and explores the results in three dimensions, including perfect cubes, hoppers, and dendrites, as well as briefly mentioning octahedral morphology.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Tien Chen, Shuichi Toyouchi, Teruki Sugiyama
Summary: This study explores the optical trapping of hen egg-white lysozyme (HEWL) using a focused laser beam and analyzes the HEWL crystallization using fluorescence spectroscopy. The results show that HEWL clusters can be trapped at the focal point through optical trapping and crystallization can be triggered by cessation of laser irradiation. The fluorescence study reveals the importance of highly concentrated domain (HCD) formation in triggering the crystallization process.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C
(2023)
Editorial Material
Plant Sciences
Kazuki Tagawa, Mikio Watanabe
Summary: Group foraging in Drosera makinoi enables them to trap large prey efficiently, with larger neighboring plant density leading to more large prey captures. Coordinated trap leaves between neighboring plants accounted for approximately 43.4% of events trapping large prey.
PLANT SPECIES BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Tufail Shakeel, Manzoor Hussain, Ghulam Mujtaba Shah, Iram Gul
Summary: The study reveals that plants alongside the roads in Abbottabad are negatively impacted by vehicular emissions, affecting their morphological and biochemical characteristics, although they exhibit higher tolerance to pollution. Some plant species in contaminated areas have higher Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI), making them more suitable for plantation in Abbottabad.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Benfu Qian, Ze Wang, Yulu Wang, Qianran Zhao, Xiuqing Zhou, Haifeng Zou, Yanhua Song, Ye Sheng
Summary: This study obtained rod-like Lu2O2S:Eu3+, cylindrical Gd2O2S:Eu3+, and irregular Y2O2S:Eu3+ phosphors through solvothermal synthesis and subsequent calcination process. The formation mechanisms of different morphologies, as well as the luminescent properties, were discussed and analyzed in detail. The results indicate that matrix cation has a significant effect on morphology control under high pH conditions. Various growth processes were studied for the different morphologies.
JOURNAL OF ALLOYS AND COMPOUNDS
(2021)
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Mengwei Zhang, Peian Zhang, Suwen Lu, Qixia Ou-yang, Yaxian Zhu-ge, Ruiping Tian, Haifeng Jia, Jinggui Fang
Summary: Information about cuticular wax in grape berry was comprehensively investigated in this study, revealing differences in wax composition among cultivars and its correlation with berry development. The findings shed light on the molecular basis of wax biosynthesis in grape and its contribution to water preservation capacity during storage.
FRONTIERS IN NUTRITION
(2021)
Article
Biology
Taylor J. M. Dick, Christofer J. Clemente, Laksh K. Punith, Gregory S. Sawicki
Summary: This study investigates how humans modulate neuromuscular control and plantar flexor muscle-tendon unit (MTU) dynamics to maintain stability during unexpected vertical perturbations. The results show that unexpected drop in ground height causes an automatic phase shift in plantar flexor muscle activity timing, initiating a cascade of responses including increased MTU and fascicle length changes and increased muscle forces. Co-activation of plantar- and dorsiflexors prior to ground contact improves the capacity of plantar flexors to rapidly absorb energy and may aid in avoiding muscle strains.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Review
Biology
Ulrike Bauer, Ulrike K. Mueller, Simon Poppinga
Summary: Both animals and plants have evolved mechanisms for elastic energy storage and release to power rapid motion, but they have been studied in isolation due to lack of consistent terminology and conceptual frameworks. Carnivorous plants, with their fast movements, serve as important models for studying biomechanics, development, evolution, and ecology. There is a fundamental trade-off between energetic investment and movement control in traps used by carnivorous plants, which vary considerably in trapping structures and processes.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Hendrik K. Beck, Johanna T. Schultz, Christofer J. Clemente
Summary: The study of legged locomotion for robotic applications has become increasingly important. Researchers developed a modular bio-inspired climbing robot that mimics the lizard's bauplan, and achieved different performance by modifying gait and hardware parameters.
BIOINSPIRATION & BIOMIMETICS
(2022)
Review
Plant Sciences
Anne-Kristin Lenz, Ulrike Bauer, Graeme D. Ruxton
Summary: Water shedding from leaves is a complex process influenced by multiple factors. The drop retention angle is argued to be a more meaningful parameter for measuring the water-shedding capacity of leaves. Current understanding of the mechanics of water shedding comes from laboratory experiments, while field studies have been largely correlational. The authors highlight the importance of applying laboratory methods to real-world scenarios for a comprehensive understanding of leaf water shedding.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2022)
Editorial Material
Plant Sciences
Ulrike Bauer, Simon Poppinga
Summary: Mechanical ecology is an emerging interdisciplinary field that explores the mechanical aspects of plant ecology, with recent advancements in portable devices allowing for more in-depth biomechanical field studies.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Tina Haagensen, Joshua L. Gaschk, Johanna T. Schultz, Christofer J. Clemente
Summary: Manoeuvrability is crucial for animals to rapidly change their direction of movement, and it depends on various factors such as lateral forces, friction, body rotation, and alignment with the new heading. This study analyzed high-speed turning in domestic dogs and found that maximum speed decreased with higher angular velocity, greater centripetal acceleration, and smaller turning radii. The study also revealed that body size and shape impact turning performance, with medium-sized dogs demonstrating better turning ability. These findings have important implications for understanding the relationship between form and function in animal locomotion and predicting predator-prey encounters.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Joshua. L. L. Gaschk, Kaylah Del Simone, Robbie S. Wilson, Christofer J. Clemente
Summary: A study on the northern quolls found that male quolls invest a large amount of resources into breeding season, leading to their death, but the cause of death is still unknown. To understand the potential differences between male quolls that breed once and females that breed for multiple seasons, their behaviors, activity budgets, speeds, and distances traveled were examined. The study found that male quolls are more active, spend more time walking, and engage in less resting behavior compared to female quolls. These findings may explain the post-breeding death of male quolls.
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Physiology
Nicole Y. Kelp, Christofer J. Clemente, Kylie Tucker, Francois Hug, Sabrina Pinel, Taylor J. M. Dick
Summary: Muscle contraction causes bulging and shape changes, which are influenced by internal muscle properties and contractile forces. The internal muscle properties play an important role in shaping and gearing, especially during high-force contractions.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Biology
Christofer J. Clemente, Taylor J. M. Dick
Summary: Body mass is a fundamental characteristic of animals that impacts their life history and biology. Physics limits biological processes and affects how animals interact with their environment. Scaling helps us understand why elephants have modified body proportions and locomotor style to mitigate the consequences of their large size.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Johanna T. Schultz, David Labonte, Christofer J. Clemente
Summary: Many climbing animals use direction-dependent adhesives to attach to vertical or inclined surfaces. Researchers found that specialized climbers like geckos adjust their limb and toe movements to overcome the challenge of changing climbing directions. These multilevel dynamic adjustments could potentially inspire the development of efficient legged climbing robots.
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY INTERFACE
(2023)
Article
Zoology
Joshua L. Gaschk, Christofer J. Clemente
Summary: Australia was isolated for approximately 40 million years from eutherian predation until the introduction of invasive species which coincided with the decline and extinction of many native mammals. Locomotor performance and associated behaviors are believed to play a significant role in the overall fitness and population outcome, but their exact relationship in invasive ecology is yet to be fully understood.
AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Anne-Kristin Lenz, Ulrike Bauer
Summary: Carnivorous pitcher plants, such as Nepenthes gracilis, use raindrop impact energy to trigger a fast pivoting motion of the pitcher lid, capturing insects. Our study revealed distinct deformation patterns in the lid-trapping N. gracilis and pitfall-trapping N. rafflesiana, suggesting an anisotropic impact response that maximizes prey capture forces and dampens oscillation. The results highlight the importance of pitcher geometry in the effective trapping mechanism of N. gracilis.
Article
Zoology
Johanna T. Schultz, Robert L. Cieri, Tasmin Proost, Rishab Pilai, Mitchell Hodgson, Fabian Plum, Christofer J. Clemente
Summary: Tail length contributes to increased step length, tail motion ranges increase with relative tail length, and tail deflection ranges increase with relative speed.
INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY
(2021)
Meeting Abstract
Zoology
J. T. Schultz, R. L. Cieri, T. Proost, C. J. Clemente
INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY
(2021)
Meeting Abstract
Zoology
M. Graham, C. J. Clemente, J. J. Socha
INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY
(2021)
