Venus fly traps’ death-grip trigger discovered

They are types of posters for Cunning plants And something nightmares. Venus traps (Dionaea Muscipula) are Only a native of North and South Carolina in the United States and can Tell us the difference Between insects that pollinate them, and those who cook good food. Despite the fact that they had no nerves, they can find a touch from other organisms with very sensitive sensitive hairs. If they are touched twice in a quick sequence, their leaves will close and Capture preyNevertheless, the field of how the sensor of these plants works was still a mystery.

The root of this technique of production-chemical ion canal called DMMSL10, which surrounds the base of the sensory hairs of the trap into Venus. This membrane allows chemicals to pass and is a key sensor that detects the weakest strokes from prey, like flies, according to A study published today in the journal Natural connectionField

To see what is happening at the molecular level of these plants, the teams of Japanese University of Saitam and the National Institute of Basic Biology, engineering flycraft, which express specific protein type called Gcamp6fThey watched the field as a very soft bend in the sensory hairs of the plant gives local changes in electrical charges inside the plants.

For comparison, a stronger bend first creates a greater response from the electrical signal. Like the coup of a light switch, as soon as this electric signal on the plant crosses the threshold, a large or non -nme large electric surge occurs with a chemical envoy in plants called a wave of CA2+.

The electric signal and wave CA2+ move from the hairy base of the plant to the blade blade. According to the team, the mechanism works similarly to the nervous system of the animal.

“Our approach allowed us to visualize the moment when the physical stimulus turns into a biological signal in living plants.” The study of the co -author and biologist of plants to Hiraku was stated in his statementField

To look at this very tactile sounding system, genetically team I developed a trap for a fly Venus, which did not have an ion channel DMMSL10 This can go along the electrical signal, which informs the leaves to close. These plants had a much smaller response to stimuli, which indicates that DMMSL10 works as an amplifier, increasing this initial small electrical signal until it becomes strong enough to cause action.

The laboratory ecosystem shows how the closure of the leaves works when ants walk around plants.Credit: Masatsuug Toyota/Saitama University

To see how it can work in the wild, team built a small ecosystem in the laboratoryThe fields here move freely and walked through the traps for the flycrafs of Venus, which had their natural Ion channel DMMSL10 and others that did not do this. In this simulated wild ecosystem, the touch of ants caused a reaction to plants. Plants without the ion channel DMMSL10 had less frequent closure and less bending in sensory hairs. Those who have DMMSL10 are more often closed on ants, and their sensory hair is more often bend.

“Our results show that the DMMSL10 is a key mechanosensornsor for highly sensitive sensory hairs, which allow you to detect sensory stimuli even from the weakest, barely grazing contacts,” says the court. “Many plant reactions arise from the mechanogenation – the tactile meaning of the plant – so that the main molecular mechanisms can be divided outside the volatile connection of Venus.”

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