Charge induced closing of Dionaea muscipula Ellis trap

Triggering a false alarm: wounding mimics prey capture in the carnivorous Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)

“…It is quite surprising that the Venus flytrap generated APs instead of VPs, which have been believed to be generated in response to damaging stimuli (Fromm & Lautner, ). It is known that APs triggered by mechanical stimulation do not even penetrate to the photosynthetic part of the leaf in the Venus flytrap, so these two parts of the leaf are probably electrically independent (Volkov et al ., , , ). Only graded potentials, which have very low amplitude, were recorded in the photosynthetic part of the leaf (Fig.…”

On the mechanism underlying photosynthetic limitation upon trigger hair irritation in the carnivorous plant Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula Ellis)

“…The stimulation of trigger hairs activates mechanosensitive ion channels and generates a receptor potential, which induces an action potential. Electrical signals are the immediate cause of the trap movements irrespective of the way in which the signal is triggered; for example by mechanical stimulation or by electrostimulation (Volkov et al , 2007, 2008 a , b , c , 2009 a , b ). In animals, the ionic mechanism of the action potential of axons depends on inward-flowing Na + (depolarization) and outward-flowing K + ions (repolarization), whereas the excitation of plant cells depends on Ca 2+ , Cl – , and K + ions (Fromm and Lautner, 2007).…”

“…The action potentials in Dionaea have been extensively studied (e.g. Burdon-Sanderson, 1873; Affolter and Olivo, 1975; Hodick and Sievers, 1986, 1988, 1989; Sibaoka, 1991; Trebacz and Sievers, 1998; Krol et al , 2006; Volkov et al , 2007, 2008 a , b , c , 2009 a , b ). They propagate from mechanosensitive trigger hairs of the lobe to the trap midrib, more rapidly across the lower (abaxial) surface than across the upper one, while they are not recorded in adjacent lamina (Burdon-Sanderson, 1873; Burdon-Sanderson and Page, 1876; Williams and Pickard, 1980; Volkov et al , 2007).…”

Plants on the move: Towards common mechanisms governing mechanically-induced plant movements

“…48 As in legume pulvini, the movement of the Venus flytrap lobes is caused by changes in cell volume of opposing tissue groups by differential water flow linked to ion fluxes. 45 Nevertheless, despite the fact that researchers have investigated the mechanisms by which the trap closes so fast, only in the past 6 y, the dynamic of the movement started to become more clear, notably thanks to Forterre et al and Volkov et al 43,44,46,[50][51][52][53] Forterre et al divided the Venus flytrap movement into two components: an active biochemical component, pertinent to the mechanisms causing microscopic changes, and a passive elastic component, which is the macroscopic closing process determined by the doubly-curved leaf. A difference in turgor pressure constantly maintained between the upper and the lower cell layers of the leaf provides elastic curvature energy storage locked in the leaves.…”

“…46 D. muscipula can also perceive artificial electrical signals and can be stimulated to close the trap with the same speed as when mechanical stimulation is applied. 44,50 Furthermore, it was demonstrated that this plant has a short-term electrical memory by the fact that it can accumulate previously applied small electrical charges, closing the trap when a threshold value is reached. 51,52 Species from the carnivorous plant genera Drosera and Pinguicula have sticky, highly modified colorful leaves that are capable to move acting like small insect traps (Fig.…”