Article
Plant Sciences
Jana Jaksova, Lubomir Adamec, Ivan Petrik, Ondrej Novak, Marek Sebela, Andrej Pavlovic
Summary: The study found that unlike Aldrovanda, Utricularia does not use jasmonates for the activation of carnivorous response, making it the second genus in Lamiales that has not co-opted jasmonate signaling for botanical carnivory. Both genera secrete digestive fluid containing cysteine protease homologous to dionain, but the regulation may vary between them.
PLANT PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Daniel Laspisa, Eudald llla-Berenguer, Sohyun Bang, Robert J. Schmitz, Wayne Parrott, Jason Wallace
Summary: This study identified potential insulator-like sequences in the genome of the humped bladderwort, a plant with a small genome size, providing useful tools for plant genetic engineering.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sergio Alan Cervantes-Perez, Lenin Yong-Villalobos, Nathalia M. V. Florez-Zapata, Araceli Oropeza-Aburto, Felix Rico-Resendiz, Itzel Amasende-Morales, Tianying Lan, Octavio Martinez, Jean Philippe Vielle-Calzada, Victor A. Albert, Luis Herrera-Estrella
Summary: This study reveals that compared to other angiosperms, Utricularia gibba has an unusual distribution of small RNAs and reduced global DNA methylation levels. Moreover, key genes involved in the RdDM pathway may lack compensatory paralogs or contain truncated proteins, potentially impacting the developmental processes in U. gibba.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Matthias Freund, Dorothea Graus, Andreas Fleischmann, Kadeem J. Gilbert, Qianshi Lin, Tanya Renner, Christian Stigloher, Victor Albert, Rainer Hedrich, Kenji Fukushima
Summary: To survive in nutrient-poor environments, carnivorous plants have developed traps analogous to animal digestive systems to capture and digest small organisms. These traps modify plant-specific organs, such as leaves, to acquire the ability to break down and absorb nutrients. Digestive glands in carnivorous plants secrete enzymes and other substances to digest prey, while absorbing the released compounds for nutrient uptake.
Article
Optics
Dong-Dong Han, Yong -Lai Zhang, Zhao-Di Chen, Ji-Chao Li, Jia-Nan Ma, Jiang -Wei Mao, Hao Zhou, Hong -Bo Sun
Summary: This article reports a moisture responsive shape-morphing slippery surface that enables simultaneous moisture responsive shape-morphing and oil-lubricated water repellency. It is prepared by creating biomimetic microstructures on graphene oxide membrane and subsequent lubricating with a thin layer of oil on the laser structured reduced GO surface. The integration of this surface with an LRGO/GO bilayer actuator enables droplet sliding ability and enhanced moisture deformation performance, demonstrating versatility for active/passive trapping, droplet manipulation, and sensing.
OPTO-ELECTRONIC ADVANCES
(2023)
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Kenji Fukushima
Summary: A recent study utilizes computational models to investigate the functional morphology of carnivorous trapping pitchers in Nepenthes, with a focus on the peristome. The study explores new dimensions in the relationship between form and function, offering theoretical insights into the role of complex trap morphology.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Saura R. Silva, Vitor F. O. Miranda, Todd P. Michael, Bartosz J. Plachno, Ramon G. Matos, Lubomir Adamec, Sergei L. K. Pond, Alexander G. Lucaci, Daniel G. Pinheiro, Alessandro M. Varani
Summary: This study explores the genetic differences in the plastome and mitochondrial genes of Utricularia and Genlisea species. The findings suggest that these genes may be influenced by both phylogenetic history and lifestyle. These insights contribute to our understanding of the phylogenetic and taxonomic knowledge of these plants.
MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Andrej Pavlovic, Jana Jaksova, Martin Hrivnacky, Lubomir Adamec
Summary: Many carnivorous plants, including Utricularia reflexa, have a high abundance of alternative oxidase (AOX) in their traps, which are metabolically active and have high respiratory rates. This is in contrast to normal plants, which primarily use the cytochrome c oxidative pathway. The exact role of AOX in carnivorous plant traps remains to be investigated.
PLANT SIGNALING & BEHAVIOR
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Martin Horstmann, Andreas Fleischmann, Ralph Tollrian, Simon Poppinga
Summary: The study indicates that U. multifida may specialize in capturing substrate-bound prey, while also detecting a wide variety of other prey organisms with different taxonomic backgrounds. Future research should focus on sampling plants from different locations for robust comparative analyses.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Anne Fabricant, Geoffrey Z. Iwata, Soenke Scherzer, Lykourgos Bougas, Katharina Rolfs, Anna Jodko-Wladzinska, Jens Voigt, Rainer Hedrich, Dmitry Budker
Summary: Upon stimulation, plants can produce electrical signals analogous to the animal nervous system, and these signals can generate measurable magnetic fields in multicellular plant systems. Researchers have recorded biomagnetism associated with electrical activity in the carnivorous Venus flytrap, paving the way for understanding the molecular basis of biomagnetism in living plants.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Riccardo Casini, Irene Del Lesto, Adele Magliano, Arianna Ermenegildi, Simona Ceschin, Claudio De Liberato, Federico Romiti
Summary: The Asian tiger mosquito is a major threat to human health as an invasive species and competent vector of arboviruses. The bladderworts, aquatic carnivorous plants, could be considered as a biological control method against mosquito larvae.
BIOLOGICAL CONTROL
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Corentin Dupont, Bruno Buatois, Jean-Marie Bessiere, Claire Villemant, Tom Hattermann, Doris Gomez, Laurence Gaume
Summary: The odours of pitcher plants are associated with the type of prey they capture. The study measured the odour and prey compositions of different Sarracenia taxa and found significant differences. The results suggest that odours play a crucial role in the diet composition of pitcher plants.
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
Plant Sciences
Axel Mithoefer
Summary: Carnivorous plants have a unique feeding strategy and form various interactions with other organisms. However, there is still incomplete understanding of the interactions between carnivorous plants and pollinators, herbivores, and other organisms, which requires further research.
JOURNAL OF PLANT INTERACTIONS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Kinga Maria Pilarska, Manuela Panic, Ivana Radojcic Redovnikovic, Magdalena Wrobel-Kwiatkowska
Summary: Carnivorous plants of the genus Sarracenia have been used in folk medicine for centuries due to their rich bioactive compounds. This study successfully achieved the genetic transformation of Sarracenia purpurea L. and found that the transformed plants exhibited morphological and biochemical changes compared to untransformed plants.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2022)