‘Insect aquaplaning’ on a superhydrophilic hairy surface: how<i>Heliamphora nutans</i>Benth. pitcher plants capture prey

Bauer, Ulrike; Scharmann, Mathias; Skepper, Jeremy N.; Federle, Walter

doi:10.1098/rspb.2012.2569

Cited by 31 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…For example, Nepenthes pitchers have at least two forms of slippery surfaces: firstly, inner pitcher walls and lids with wax crystals [30••,31••], and secondly, peristomes with inward-facing trichomes that are extremely wettable. Similar functionalities of wax and hairs have also been reported for bromeliads leaves [32] and the inner walls of Heliamphora (Ericales) pitchers [33•]. …”

Section: Morphological Adaptationssupporting

confidence: 72%

Inside the trap: gland morphologies, digestive enzymes, and the evolution of plant carnivory in the Caryophyllales

Renner

Specht

2013

Current Opinion in Plant Biology

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The digestion of prey by carnivorous plants is determined in part by suites of enzymes that are associated with morphologically and anatomically diverse trapping mechanisms. Chitinases represent a group of enzymes known to be integral to effective plant carnivory. In non-carnivorous plants, chitinases commonly act as pathogenesis-related proteins, which are either induced in response to insect herbivory and fungal elicitors, or constitutively expressed in tissues vulnerable to attack. In the Caryophyllales carnivorous plant lineage, multiple classes of chitinases are likely involved in both pathogenic response and digestion of prey items. We review what is currently known about trap morphologies, provide an examination of the diversity, roles, and evolution of chitinases, and examine how herbivore and pathogen defense mechanisms may have been coopted for plant carnivory in the Caryophyllales.

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Section: Morphological Adaptationssupporting

confidence: 72%

Inside the trap: gland morphologies, digestive enzymes, and the evolution of plant carnivory in the Caryophyllales

Renner

Specht

2013

Current Opinion in Plant Biology

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“…While all members of the family Sarraceniaceae possess foliar structures (e.g. downward-facing hairs) purportedly functioning to direct insects into the fluid [23], the altered physico-chemical properties of the fluid help to drown insects that would otherwise fail to break the surface tension and escape. Although the prey capture role provided by the bacterial community may not be as critical to the host plant's fitness as its digestive role, these results nonetheless highlight a potentially novel class of beneficial plant-microbe interactions worthy of continued study.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacteria facilitate prey retention by the pitcher plant Darlingtonia californica

Armitage

2016

Biol. Lett.

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Bacteria are hypothesized to provide a variety of beneficial functions to plants. Many carnivorous pitcher plants, for example, rely on bacteria for digestion of captured prey. This bacterial community may also be responsible for the low surface tensions commonly observed in pitcher plant digestive fluids, which might facilitate prey capture. I tested this hypothesis by comparing the physical properties of natural pitcher fluid from the pitcher plant Darlingtonia californica and cultured 'artificial' pitcher fluids and tested these fluids' prey retention capabilities. I found that cultures of pitcher leaves' bacterial communities had similar physical properties to raw pitcher fluids. These properties facilitated the retention of insects by both fluids and hint at a previously undescribed class of plant-microbe interaction.

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“…A number of plants have evolved structures that deter insects (e.g., Macaranga trees [12]) or attempt to capture them (e.g., pitcher plants [47]). In both cases, the surfaces will be slippery or otherwise non-adhesive.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When the going gets rough – studying the effect of surface roughness on the adhesive abilities of tree frogs

Crawford¹,

Endlein²,

Pham³

et al. 2016

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol.

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Tree frogs need to adhere to surfaces of various roughnesses in their natural habitats; these include bark, leaves and rocks. Rough surfaces can alter the effectiveness of their toe pads, due to factors such as a change of real contact area and abrasion of the pad epithelium. Here, we tested the effect of surface roughness on the attachment abilities of the tree frog Litoria caerulea. This was done by testing shear and adhesive forces on artificial surfaces with controlled roughness, both on single toe pads and whole animal scales. It was shown that frogs can stick 2–3 times better on small scale roughnesses (3–6 µm asperities), producing higher adhesive and frictional forces, but relatively poorly on the larger scale roughnesses tested (58.5–562.5 µm asperities). Our experiments suggested that, on such surfaces, the pads secrete insufficient fluid to fill the space under the pad, leaving air pockets that would significantly reduce the Laplace pressure component of capillarity. Therefore, we measured how well the adhesive toe pad would conform to spherical asperities of known sizes using interference reflection microscopy. Based on experiments where the conformation of the pad to individual asperities was examined microscopically, our calculations indicate that the pad epithelium has a low elastic modulus, making it highly deformable.

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‘Insect aquaplaning’ on a superhydrophilic hairy surface: howHeliamphora nutansBenth. pitcher plants capture prey

Cited by 31 publications

References 23 publications

Inside the trap: gland morphologies, digestive enzymes, and the evolution of plant carnivory in the Caryophyllales

Inside the trap: gland morphologies, digestive enzymes, and the evolution of plant carnivory in the Caryophyllales

Bacteria facilitate prey retention by the pitcher plant Darlingtonia californica

When the going gets rough – studying the effect of surface roughness on the adhesive abilities of tree frogs

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