Anannya Roy, Amity University Kolkata
Researchers at Stalk and Scripps Research Institute have discovered the mystery behind how Carnivorous plants sense and trap their prey. Ever since we were in middle school we have learned that plants like Venus flytrap and Sundew are sensitive to touch, which helps them to sense and trap their prey. The exact reasons behind this magical phenomenon, to a larger extent, are still unknown.
The paper was published on March 16th, 2021 in eLife, a botany journal, and answered several questions that puzzled scientists over decades. It helped them understand how different kinds of plants sense and respond to mechanical stimulations.
The researchers stated that Venus flytrap was chosen because they have a very fast touch response, as well as help to study sensory modality, which to date isn’t well understood. This plant had fascinated Biologists ever since a very long time, Charles Darwin himself wrote a book on them. Though the research was done on the structure of the leaves, not enough was studied about the cellular level. This was because these plants are difficult experimental organisms, their growth being extremely slow.
Recently, their genome has been sequenced and investigations were made on the molecular level. The results prove to be impressive. Thousands of touch reacting triggers hairs were removed from Venus flytrap plants and were sequenced using sequencing technology to find which proteins were most abundant. A new protein called FLYCATCHER1 (FLYC1) was discovered and it was found at the base of the hairs. Proteins that are involved in sensing touch can move electric current across the cell. This was the second common type of protein found in the cell. This protein was put in the mammalian cells for testing and an electric current was produced, indicating sensitivity to mechanical touch.
Insights into this research could help medicine to develop therapies that stimulate human cells such as neurons. Still, there’s a lot of works to be done in this field and a lot of answers unexplored.
Also read: LSFM: A New Brain Imaging Technique!!!
Source: Carl Procko, Swetha Murthy, William T Keenan, Seyed Ali Reza Mousavi, TsegayeDabi, Adam Coombs, Erik Procko, Lisa Baird, ArdemPatapoutian, Joanne Chory. Stretch-activated ion channels identified in the touch-sensitive structures of carnivorous Droseraceae plants. eLife, 2021; 10 DOI: 10.7554/eLife.64250 , https://elifesciences.org/articles/64250
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