A single touch can provide sufficient mechanical stimulation to trigger Venus flytrap closure
Copyright policy )A single touch can provide sufficient mechanical stimulation to trigger Venus flytrap closure
The carnivorous Venus flytrap catches prey by an ingenious snapping mechanism. Based on work over nearly 200 years, it has become generally accepted that two touches of the trap’s sensory hairs within 30 s, each one generating an action potential, are required to trigger closure of the trap. We developed an electromechanical model, which, however, suggests that under certain circumstances one touch is sufficient to generate two action potentials. Using a force-sensing microrobotic system, we precisely quantified the sensory-hair deflection parameters necessary to trigger trap closure and correlated them with the elicited action potentials in vivo. Our results confirm the model’s predictions, suggesting that the Venus flytrap may be adapted to a wider range of prey movements than previously assumed.
PLoS Biology, 18 (7)
ISSN:1544-9173
ISSN:1545-7885
- Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology Switzerland
- UNIVERSITAET ZUERICH Switzerland
- University of Zurich Switzerland
- University Hospital of Zurich Switzerland
- ETH Zurich Switzerland
QH301-705.5, Action Potentials, Genetics and Molecular Biology, 1100 General Agricultural and Biological Sciences, 580 Plants (Botany), Models, Biological, 10126 Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, Electricity, 1300 General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, 2400 General Immunology and Microbiology, Physical Stimulation, 10211 Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, Biology (General), General Immunology and Microbiology, General Neuroscience, 2800 General Neuroscience, Biomechanical Phenomena, [SDV] Life Sciences [q-bio], Torque, Touch Perception, General Biochemistry, General Agricultural and Biological Sciences, Research Article, Droseraceae
QH301-705.5, Action Potentials, Genetics and Molecular Biology, 1100 General Agricultural and Biological Sciences, 580 Plants (Botany), Models, Biological, 10126 Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, Electricity, 1300 General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, 2400 General Immunology and Microbiology, Physical Stimulation, 10211 Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, Biology (General), General Immunology and Microbiology, General Neuroscience, 2800 General Neuroscience, Biomechanical Phenomena, [SDV] Life Sciences [q-bio], Torque, Touch Perception, General Biochemistry, General Agricultural and Biological Sciences, Research Article, Droseraceae
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