US EditionScientists unlock secret to Venus flytrap’s hair-trigger response
Japanese scientists identified the ion channel DmMSL10 that amplifies faint touch signals to trigger rapid Venus flytrap closure, revealing a plant sensory mechanism similar to animal nerves.
- The study in Nature Communications reports that Japanese scientists identified DmMSL10 as a unique touch sensor in the Venus flytrap with a threshold-triggered action-potential mechanism.
- Rainer Hedrich's 2016 work showed the plant can count touches, while the molecular identity of the touch sensor remained unclear until recent work built on a 2020 genetic study by Japanese authors.
- Glowing green calcium signals allowed visualization of momentary changes as trigger hairs generate electrical impulses spreading radially, producing Ca2+ waves and calcium fluctuations acting as short-term memory.
- The Venus flytrap requires three more triggers, for a total of five stimuli, before digestion begins, which takes five to 12 days, after initial snap shut.
- A 2023 bioelectronic study mapped signal propagation, showing plant mechanosensing may extend beyond the Venus flytrap and resemble animal nervous systems, researchers say.
13 Articles
13 Articles
Scientists reveal how Venus fly trap plants snap shut
Scientists have revealed the three-dimensional structure of Flycatcher1, an aptly named protein channel that may enable Venus fly trap plants to snap shut in response to prey. The structure of Flycatcher1 helps shed light on longstanding questions about the remarkably sensitive touch response of Venus fly traps. The structure also gives the researchers a better understanding of how similar proteins in organisms including plants and bacteria, as …
Venus flytrap's touch response traced to specialized ion channel in sensory hairs
Plants lack nerves, yet they can sensitively detect touch from other organisms. In the Venus flytrap, highly sensitive sensory hairs act as tactile sensing organs; when touched twice in quick succession, they initiate the closure cascade that captures prey. However, the molecular identity of the touch sensor has remained unclear.
Venus fly traps’ death-grip trigger discovered
They’re the poster species for carnivorous plants and stuff of nightmares. Venus fly traps (Dionaea muscipula) are only native to North and South Carolina in the United States and can tell the difference between insects that pollinate them and those that make a good meal. Despite not having nerves themselves, they can detect touch from other organisms with highly sensitive sensory hairs. If they are touched twice in quick succession, their leave…
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