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Functional trap of Utricularia reflexa. Trap length is about 4 mm. The bubble inside the trap was aspirated in instead of water during the trap manipulation.
Source publication
Aquatic Utricularia species usually grow in standing, nutrient-poor humic waters. They take up all necessary nutrients either directly from the water by rootless shoots or from animal prey by traps. The traps are hollow bladders, 1-6 mm long with elastic walls and have a mobile trap door. The inner part of the trap is densely lined with quadrifid a...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... words: aquatic carnivorous plants, bladderwort, bladders, firing, resetting, enzyme secretion, water pumping, microbial commensals of oval-shaped, fluid-filled traps of foliar origin (Fig. 1). These bladders are typically 1-6 mm long with elastic walls two cell layers thick and have a mobile trap door (Fig. 2). 1 The inner part of the trap is densely lined by large glands of two types: quadrifid glands cover almost the whole inner surface and take part in the secretion of digestive enzymes and in the resorption of released ...
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Citations
... These are related to the heterotopic transfer of the function of the genes to other organs, as was shown in the root genes [9]. Utricularia produce small hollow vesicles (bladders with elastic walls and a mobile trap door), which function as suction traps that work underwater and capture fine organisms [10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. There is agreement that these traps are of a foliar origin. ...
Utricularia (bladderworts) are carnivorous plants. They produce small hollow vesicles, which function as suction traps that work underwater and capture fine organisms. Inside the traps, there are numerous glandular trichomes (quadrifids), which take part in the secretion of digestive enzymes, the resorption of released nutrients, and likely the pumping out of water. Due to the extreme specialization of quadrifids, they are an interesting model for studying the cell walls. This aim of the study was to fill in the gap in the literature concerning the immunocytochemistry of quadrifids in the major cell wall polysaccharides and glycoproteins. To do this, the localization of the cell wall components in the quadrifids was performed using whole-mount immunolabeled Utricularia traps. It was observed that only parts (arms) of the terminal cells had enough discontinuous cuticle to be permeable to antibodies. There were different patterns of the cell wall components in the arms of the terminal cells of the quadrifids. The cell walls of the arms were especially rich in low-methyl-esterified homogalacturonan. Moreover, various arabinogalactan proteins also occurred. Cell walls in glandular cells of quadrifids were rich in low-methyl-esterified homogalacturonan; in contrast, in the aquatic carnivorous plant Aldrovanda vesiculosa, cell walls in the glandular cells of digestive glands were poor in low-methyl-esterified homogalacturonan. Arabinogalactan proteins were found in the cell walls of trap gland cells in all studied carnivorous plants: Utricularia, and members of Droseraceae and Drosophyllaceae.
... Utricularia species colonize different niches, with the development of several lifeforms, and for this reason, they are likely adapted to unfavorable external conditions such as nutrient-poor environments and low levels of oxygen (Taylor, 1989;Adamec, 2011). The latter factor, hypoxia, involves the respiratory system of plants, which increases the chances of adaptive regulation of ETC protein-coding genes (Bristow and Hill, 2008;Igamberdiev and Hill, 2009), but also in plastids that, under reduced oxygen conditions, regulate the cell to avoid molecular damage caused by ROS in order to maintain the integrity of DNA and its proteins, since the oxygen-limited signaling process begins in the photosynthetic genes NAD where redox reactions take place (Tripathi et al., 2020;Sasidharan et al., 2021). ...
Utricularia and Genlisea are highly specialized carnivorous plants whose phylogenetic history has been poorly explored using phylogenomic methods. Additional sampling and genomic data are needed to advance our phylogenetic and taxonomic knowledge of this group of plants. Within a comparative framework, we present a characterization of plastome (PT) and mitochondrial (MT) genes of 26 Utricularia and six Genlisea species, with representatives of all subgenera and growth habits. All PT genomes maintain similar gene content, showing minor variation across the genes located between the PT junctions. One exception is a major variation related to different patterns in the presence and absence of ndh genes in the small single copy region, which appears to follow the phylogenetic history of the species rather than their lifestyle. All MT genomes exhibit similar gene content, with most differences related to a lineage-specific pseudogenes. We find evidence for episodic positive diversifying selection in PT and for most of the Utricularia MT genes that may be related to the current hypothesis that bladderworts' nuclear DNA is under constant ROS oxidative DNA damage and unusual DNA repair mechanisms, or even low fidelity polymerase that bypass lesions which could also be affecting the organellar genomes. Finally, both PT and MT phylogenetic trees were well resolved and highly supported, providing a congruent phylogenomic hypothesis for Utricularia and Genlisea clade given the study sampling.
... In Genlisea, the traps are known as rhizophylls, consisting of achlorophyllous tubular leaves, subterranean, with two distal arms, helically twisted, internally covered with introrse trichomes that direct the prey to a proximal digestive chamber (Płachno et al. 2007;Fleischmann 2012). On the other hand, in Utricularia, the traps are known as bladder-traps or utricles, comprising foliar vesicles that are hermetically sealed by an articulated door, adorned with dorsal and/or ventral appendages, and with touch-sensitive trichomes that trigger the active mechanism of suction in fractions of seconds (Adamec 2011;Vincent et al. 2011;Whitewoods et al. 2019). ...
The present study comprises the taxonomic treatment of the Lentibulariaceae species in Espírito Santo state, as a continuation of a series of studies focused on the Flora of Espírito Santo. Herein we present an identification key, morphological descriptions, illustrations, distribution map, list of analysed material and comments about taxonomy and distribution of the species. We confirmed the occurrence of 16 species in Espírito Santo state, of which four are new records and only three are not found in protected areas.
... The authors showed that both the biomass and abundance of testate amoebae increased in the experimental variant with the highest temperature, and the biomass of amoebae was closely correlated with the bacterial biomass. In recent years, taxonomic studies have been conducted on microbial communities in the traps of carnivorous plants (Adamec, 2011;Płachno et al., 2012;Sirovà et al., 2018). These studies have reported the occurrence of bacteria, algae, cyanobacteria, and ciliates in the traps. ...
... Microorganisms occurring in both the water and the traps display high tolerance for environmental properties altered by temperature modification. Therefore it is very likely that the main factor determining the presence of organisms in this environment is resistance to frequent oxygen deficiencies (Adamec, 2011). This theory is supported by the sharp decline in the abundance of the testate amoeba Arcella vulgaris in the traps. ...
... Although some researchers (e.g. Adamec, 2011;Płachno et al., 2012) have identified the main factors determining the functioning of the microbiome, there is still a lack of information facilitating the division of microoganisms into 'tenants' of traps and prey of bladderworts. Research by Płachno et al. (2012) indicates that both bacteria and flagellates are a relatively constant element of the microbiome of Utricularia. ...
Climate change models predict a potential increase in air temperature ranging from 2°C to 4°C. Global warming will therefore significantly influence the functioning of various organisms and ecosystems. However, the effect of the temperature increase on the functioning of the microbiome of carnivorous plants is as yet unknown. The aim of the study was to assess the effect of experimentally simulated climate warming on the microbiome of the traps of Utricularia vulgaris L. - plant included on the red list in the NT (near-threatened) category. We used ‘microcosm’ experiments (a control treatment and treatments with temperature increases of +2° and +4°C) to determine the reaction of the microbiome of Utricularia traps and the microbes present in the water inhabited by Utricularia to simulated temperature changes in the temperate climate zone. The temperature increase caused an increase in the species richness of ciliates and in the abundance of bacteria, flagellates, and ciliates. On the other hand, there was a decrease in the abundance of testate amoebae, rotifers, and nematodes, i.e. top predators, in both the traps and the peatbog water. At the same time, warming altered the size structure of microbes towards dominance of small forms. Ordination analyses showed that most important factors determining the occurrence of microbes and small Metazoa are temperature, organic matter, and biogenic compounds. A better understanding of what regulates microbial populations and activity in traps and in water in peatbogs and unravelling of these fundamental mechanisms are particularly critical in order to more accurately predict how peatbogs will respond to climate disturbances.
Keywords
... Bladderworts capture prey in modified leaf structures (Fig. 1a, b) (Chormanski & Richards, 2012;Whitewoods et al., 2020). Traps are loaded by osmotically pumping water out of a sealed bladder cavity (Lloyd, 1929;Sydenham & Findlay, 1973;Sasago & Sibaoka, 1985b;Adamec, 2011b;Poppinga et al., 2016). The resulting elastic deformation of the bladder walls maintains negative hydrostatic pressure (Fig. 1b) (Sydenham & Findlay, 1973;Singh et al., 2011;Vincent et al., 2011;Poppinga et al., 2016), until prey trigger the opening of a trap door (Fig. 1b) and are entrained by the sudden inward flow (Fig. 1a,c) (Vincent et al., 2011;Poppinga et al., 2017). ...
Aquatic bladderworts ( Utricularia gibba and U . australis ) capture zooplankton in mechanically triggered underwater traps. With characteristic dimensions less than 1 mm, the trapping structures are among the smallest known to capture prey by suction, a mechanism that is not effective in the creeping‐flow regime where viscous forces prevent the generation of fast and energy‐efficient suction flows.
To understand what makes suction feeding possible on the small scale of bladderwort traps, we characterised their suction flows experimentally (using particle image velocimetry) and mathematically (using computational fluid dynamics and analytical mathematical models).
We show that bladderwort traps avoid the adverse effects of creeping flow by generating strong, fast‐onset suction pressures. Our findings suggest that traps use three morphological adaptations: the trap walls' fast release of elastic energy ensures strong and constant suction pressure; the trap door's fast opening ensures effectively instantaneous onset of suction; the short channel leading into the trap ensures undeveloped flow, which maintains a wide effective channel diameter.
Bladderwort traps generate much stronger suction flows than larval fish with similar gape sizes because of the traps' considerably stronger suction pressures. However, bladderworts' ability to generate strong suction flows comes at considerable energetic expense.
... The traps of aquatic Utricularia species are hollow, 1-6 mm large, fluid-filled bladders with a trap door (Adamec 2011;Taylor 1989). Traps can fire after mechanical stimulation or spontaneously and capture small prey or suspended particles from the ambient water (Adamec 2018;Peroutka et al. 2008). ...
The host specificity of the recently described ciliate species Tetrahymena utriculariae was tested in a greenhouse growth experiment, which included 14 different species of aquatic Utricularia as potential host plants. We confirmed the high specificity of the interaction between U . reflexa and T . utriculariae , the former being the only tested host species able to maintain colonization for prolonged time periods. We conclude that this plant–microbe relationship is a unique and specialized form of digestive mutualism and the plant–microbe unit a suitable experimental system for future eco‐physiological studies.
... Among carnivorous plants, the largest (around 220 species) and one of the most cosmopolitan genera is Utricularia, which includes terrestrial, epiphytic and aquatic species [12]. The traps, which are characteristic of the genus, are complex structures usually 1 to 6 mm long [13] that employ a complex suction mechanism to capture and digest small invertebrates [14]. Inside the bladder traps, there are two type of glands. ...
... Inside the bladder traps, there are two type of glands. The bifid glands, located at the entrance of the trap, are responsible for expelling water to generate negative pressure for prey suction [13]. The quadrifid glands are involved in secretion of digestive enzymes that cover almost the entire inner trap surface [15][16][17][18]. ...
Background:
The genus Utricularia belongs to Lentibulariaceae, the largest family of carnivorous plants, which includes terrestrial, epiphytic and aquatic species. The development of specialized structures that evolved for carnivory is a feature of this genus that has been of great interest to biologists since Darwin's early studies. Utricularia gibba is itself an aquatic plant with sophisticated bladder traps having one of the most complex suction mechanisms for trapping prey. However, the molecular characterization of the mechanisms that regulate trap development and the biophysical processes involved in prey trapping are still largely unknown due to the lack of a simple and reproducible gene transfer system.
Results:
Here, we report the establishment of a simple, fast and reproducible protocol for genetic transformation of U. gibba based on the T-DNA of Agrobacterium tumefaciens. An in vitro selection system using Phosphinotricin as a selective agent was established for U. gibba. Plant transformation was confirmed by histochemical GUS assays and PCR and qRT-PCR analyses. We report on the expression pattern of the 35S promoter and of the promoter of a trap-specific ribonuclease gene in transgenic U. gibba plants.
Conclusions:
The genetic transformation protocol reported here is an effective method for studying developmental biology and functional genomics of this genus of carnivorous plants and advances the utility of U. gibba as a model system to study developmental processes involved in trap formation.
... The genus Utricularia uses its bladder traps to capture and digest small organisms to obtain nutrients. Interestingly, apart from prey items, many living organisms have been observed in these bladder traps 21,22 . Indeed, Charles Darwin reported "In all cases, the bladders with decayed remains swarmed with living Algae of many kinds, Infusoria, and other low organisms, which evidently lived as intruders" 23 , wherein "Infusoria" represents a collective term for aquatic microorganisms and primarily ciliate protozoans. ...
Ciliates are unicellular eukaryotes known for their cellular complexity and wide range of natural habitats. How they adapt to their niches and what roles they play in ecology remain largely unknown. The genus Tetrahymena is among the best-studied groups of ciliates and one particular species, Tetrahymena thermophila, is a well-known laboratory model organism in cell and molecular biology, making it an excellent candidate for study in protist ecology. Here, based on cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COX1) gene barcoding, we identify a total of 19 different putative Tetrahymena species and two closely related Glaucoma lineages isolated from distinct natural habitats, of which 13 are new species. These latter include 11 Tetrahymena species found in the bladder traps of Utricularia plants, the most species-rich and widely distributed aquatic carnivorous plant, thus revealing a previously unknown but significant symbiosis of Tetrahymena species living among the microbial community of Utricularia bladder traps. Additional species were collected using an artificial trap method we have developed. We show that diverse Tetrahymena species may live even within the same habitat and that their populations are highly dynamic, suggesting that the diversity and biomass of species worldwide is far greater than currently appreciated.
... Furthermore, some researchers have assumed that this high abundance of commensal organisms also occurs in empty traps; in the same way, these microorganisms are not specialized for living inside the traps, and they can therefore live either on the external surface or freely as plankton in the ambient water. 37 Another factor that could influence the microbial community inside the traps is the composition of the water surrounding the trap that will be sucked in together with the prey or even attached to the prey. Thus, the bacterial community is selected according to the physical-chemical conditions inside the trap. ...
Carnivorous plant species, such as Utricularia spp., capture and digest prey. This digestion can occur through the secretion of plant digestive enzymes and/or by bacterial digestive enzymes. To comprehend the physiological mechanisms of carnivorous plants, it is essential to understand the microbial diversity related to these plants. Therefore, in the present study, we isolated and classified bacteria from different organs of Utricularia breviscapa (stolons and utricles) and from different geographic locations (São Paulo and Mato Grosso). We were able to build the first bacterium collection for U. breviscapa and study the diversity of cultivable bacteria. The results show that U. breviscapa bacterial diversity varied according to the geographic isolation site (São Paulo and Mato Grosso) but not the analyzed organs (utricle and stolon). We reported that six genera were common to both sample sites (São Paulo and Mato Grosso). These genera have previously been reported to be beneficial to plants, as well as related to the bioremediation process, showing that these isolates present great biotechnological and agricultural potential. This is the first report of an Acidobacteria isolated from U. breviscapa. The role of these bacteria inside the plant must be further investigated in order to understand their population dynamics within the host.
... When prey come into contact with hairs at the mouth of the trap, the door instantly opens, sucking prey along with water into the chamber, and then just as rapidly closes. Modeling experiments as well as observed spontaneous firing events suggest that, due to buckling instability in the trapdoor, only a small disruption of its seal is required to trigger buckling and then full opening of the trapdoor [110][111][112]. These data support the proposal made by Lloyd in 1929 [113] that the trigger hairs serve only as levers that are pushed by the prey. ...
... These data support the proposal made by Lloyd in 1929 [113] that the trigger hairs serve only as levers that are pushed by the prey. It remains possible, however, that the hairs instead serve as physiological sensors capable of inducing the propagation of an electrical signal and the closing of a bistable trap (as do the trigger hairs of the Venus flytrap [97]) but few data exist to support this proposal [107,111]. ...
There is increasing evidence that all cells sense mechanical forces in order to perform their functions. In animals, mechanotransduction has been studied during the establishment of cell polarity, fate, and division in single cells, and increasingly is studied in the context of a multicellular tissue. What about plant systems? Our goal in this review is to summarize what is known about the perception of mechanical cues in plants, and to provide a brief comparison with animals.
