Martín-Roca, José, Barriuso G, C Miguel, Martínez Fernández, Raúl et al. (4 more authors) (2025) The carnivorous plant Genlisea harnesses active particle dynamics to prey on microfauna. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. e2409510121. ISSN 1091-6490
Abstract
Carnivory in plants is an unusual trait that has arisen multiple times, independently, throughout evolutionary history. Plants in the genus Genlisea are carnivorous and feed on microorganisms that live in soil using modified subterranean leaf structures (rhizophylls). A surprisingly broad array of microfauna has been observed in the plants' digestive chambers, including ciliates, amoebae, and soil mites. Here, we show, through experiments and simulations, that Genlisea exploit active matter physics to "rectify" bacterial swimming and establish a local flux of bacteria through the structured environment of the rhizophyll toward the plant's digestion vesicle. In contrast, macromolecular digestion products are free to diffuse away from the digestion vesicle and establish a concentration gradient of carbon sources to draw larger microorganisms further inside the plant. Our experiments and simulations show that this mechanism is likely to be a localized one and that no large-scale efflux of digested matter is present.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Keywords: | Animals,Plant Leaves/parasitology,Carnivorous Plant/metabolism,Soil Microbiology |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Physics (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 23 Jan 2025 16:10 |
Last Modified: | 13 Feb 2025 05:32 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2409510121 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1073/pnas.2409510121 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:222272 |
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Description: martín-roca-et-al-2024-the-carnivorous-plant-genlisea-harnesses-active-particle-dynamics-to-prey-on-microfauna
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