Dionaea Muscipula As A Carnivorous Plant - Research Paper Example

Dionaea muscipula as a carnivorous plant Introduction Dionaea muscipula can be termed as one of the carnivorous plants that exist in the world. It is also referred to as the Venus flytrap. It is found in subtropical wetlands on USA’s East Coast in both North and South Carolina. It usually catches the prey chiefly the arachnids and insects with the help of a trapping structure formed by each leaf in the plant’s terminal portion. Tiny hairs that are available in the leaves’ inner surfaces play a pivotal role in the catching of prey. The Venus flytrap can be termed as one of the most awesome and best-known plants. The leaves of this plant are extraordinarily modified so as to feed on insects. However, it still obtains energy from the sun (Braude and Bobbi 3). This paper will discuss how Dionaea muscipula digests its food. The paper will highlight some features of the plant that enables it to digest food. Some of the features to be discussed include the color of the traps’ outside surface, which is green while its inside has red pigment which varies in shade depending on trap’s age. The plant is structured strategically so as to attract insects which are very essential for the development of this plant as this essay analyzes. How does dionaea muscipula digest food? The Venus flytrap gathers the nutrients from soil as well as gases just like other plants that are in existence in this world. However, Venus flytrap lives in very poor soil. This calls for the plants to extract nutrients from insects so as to become healthier. Other carnivorous plants live in the entire world but Venus flytrap is native to specific boggy regions in South and North Carolina. As a result of fascination from people with Venus flytrap plants, they collected numerous of them which consequently caused the endangerment of these plants. The Venus flytrap plants are currently grown in the greenhouses (Lambers et al. 12). The Venus flytrap has a very interesting system. The leaves of the Venus flytrap are usually open wide. On these leaves, there are short and stiff hairs called the sensitive hairs or trigger as indicated in fig.1. When anything comes into contact with these hairs enough to make them bend, the leaves’ two lobes snaps shut hence trapping whatever is in the leaves. The trap usually shut within less than a second. However, the trap does not close all the way from first. It is usually thought that it stays open for several seconds to give room for small insects to escape since they would not provide adequate for this plant (Nagata and Ebizuka 34). Fig 1 Dionae ‘Big Mouth’ source: https://www.google.com/search?q=Dionaea+muscipula+images&biw=1366&bih=633&tbm=isch&imgil=DKJSPuQLoJobDM%253A%253BvDJqh0pZbtjzNM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fcpphotofinder.com%25252Fdionaea-big-mouth-533.html&source=iu&pf=m&fir=DKJSPuQLoJobDM%253A%252CvDJqh0pZbtjzNM%252C_&usg=__-dYE4fQORr6mPrgy9MkT-4q9SRk%3D&ved=0CDAQyjc&ei=pWdGVe6DG8n7Use7gZAF#imgrc=DKJSPuQLoJobDM%253A%3BvDJqh0pZbtjzNM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.cascadecarnivores.com%252Fimages%252Fdionaea%252Fbigmouth.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fcpphotofinder.com%252Fdionaea-big-mouth-533.html%3B800%3B600 If the object that was trapped was not food, the trap will reopen within twelve hours and consequently spit this object out. These materials could be a stone or a nut. When the trap entraps food, the finger-like projections, the cilia, keep the larger insects inside. In few minutes after food material has been entrapped, the trap shuts down tightly forming an air-tight seal. This is helps the plant to keep the digestive fluids inside while bacteria is kept out. Among the insectivorous plants that are in existence in the world, the Dionaea muscipula has been known to exhibit a very unique system of attracting, killing, digesting and absorbing its prey (Braude and Bobbi 15). The plant has the ability to make its own food via photosynthesis. This indicates that the Venus flytrap eats and digests prey for another a special purpose rather than the traditional objectives of plants that is harvesting carbon and energy. The plant, however, mines from the prey essential nutrients which are phosphorous and nitrogen. These essential nutrients tend to be deficient in the habitat that is boggy and acidic. Venus flytrap plants, therefore, do not have a digestive system of the sort but it serves a rather different purpose than that of animals. Many people can wonder how a stationary organism attracts, kills, digests as well as absorbs its prey (Lambers et al. 17). The first step that the plant employs is luring its victim with the sweet smelling nectar which tends to be secreted on the steel-trap-shaped leaves. The unsuspecting prey ends up landing on the leaf when searching the reward. However, the trip ends up touching and triggering the leaf’s bristly trigger hairs. This makes the prey to end up being imprisoned in the leaf edges’ interlocking teeth. There are between three to six trigger hairs on each of the leaf’s surface. If the same hair gets touched twice or two hairs are touched within an interval of twenty second interval the cells present on the leaf’s outer surface expands rapidly (Tobin and Jennie 23). This causes the trap snap to shut instantly. If the secretion of the insect like uric acid tends to stimulate the trap which tends to clamp down further on its prey thereby forming an airtight seal. If it is tripped by a falling dead twig or a curious spectator the trap will tend to reopen in a day. When the trap closes, the plant’s digestive glands which are lined in the leaf’s interior edge secrete fluids. These fluids dissolve the prey’s soft parts, kill fungi and bacteria and eventually break down the insect using its enzymes hence extracting the crucial nutrients. These nutrients tend to be nutrients get absorbed into the leaf. The trap will then reopen between 5 to 12 days after capture. It will release the insect’s leftover exoskeleton after reopening (Volkov 14). After the plant has taken three to five meals, the trap cannot capture the prey. It will take the plant approximately two to three months to get additional energy to trap more insects. The plant will be simply photosynthesizing before dropping off the plant during this period (Braude and Bobbi 27). It is worth noting that overstimulation of the Venus plant will affect it adversely. After the trap closes for approximately ten unsuccessful times, it will cease from responding to touch. This will make this leaf to only act as a photosynthetic organ. The above description analyzes how the entire bio system of Dionaea muscipula works. How Venus Fly Traps lure in prey The Dionaea muscipula uses its attractiveness to lure its prey. The upper portion of the Venus flytrap’s trap has the nthocyanins. These are little pigments which appear purple or red on the trap’s surface. This coloration is most probably what draws in most of the insects. The trap, however, also secretes mucilage which is a type of protein. This implies that after the insect has landed on the leaf, it begins crawling around the leaf surface. This laps up the mucilage and ends up triggering the trap as shown in fig 2 which tends to snap shut trapping the insect inside as indicated in fig 3 (Nagata and Ebizuka 37). Fig 2 Fig 3 Why dionaea musipula need to digest insect The main reason as to why Venus flytraps evolved to become carnivorous is the fact that they are native in regions that are short on or lacking certain crucial nutrients which are fundamental to the growth of the plant. The soil or media where the fly traps grow is acidic and have insufficient nitrogen. Without enough nitrogen supply, it is very difficult for a plant synthesize protein which is essential for the plant’s growth and development. In the areas where the Venus flytrap occurs, they tend to be in a restricted range in the sandy shrub-bogs in the South and North Carolina. The Venus flytrap is among the listed endangered species. The ecosystem which supports the growth of Venus flytrap experiences fires frequently (Tobin and Jennie 36). This fire tends to clear out the competing plants and also volatilizes nitrogen in the soil. The Venus flytrap plants end up in a corner on the nitrogen market following the occurrence of fire. They hence obtain the three quarters of their nitrogen from digesting insects. It is hence clear that for the Venus flytrap plants to supplement their nitrogen supplement, they have to trap and digest insects. Every insect that gets caught and digested by the Venus flytrap acts as little piece of the plant’s fertilizer. This gives the plant a small boost of nutrients hence promoting growth (Nagata and Ebizuka 42). Photosynthesis Like any other plant that exists, the Venus flytrap also performs photosynthesis. The Venus flytrap’s leaves perform photosynthesis. The plants make use of the sunlight’s energy in creating sugar for fueling the plant. The broad leaves that are just below the traps act as the solar collectors. There is a very close relationship that is in existence between the plants’ activities of insect trapping and the plant’s rate of photosynthesis. The rate of photosynthesis on the Venus flytrap plants tends to slow down during as well as after the closure of the trap. Although the Venus flytrap is a carnivorous plant, photosynthesis is essential for the survival of this plant (Volkov 25). Conclusion The above discussion gives an analysis of how the bio system of the Venus flytrap works. It is a plant with unique characters. It is evident that its carnivorous status acts as an adaptive feature of this plant in its boggy environment. It grows in an environment that lacks very crucial nutrients. However, digestion of the insects helps the plant to extract these nutrients hence supplementing the deficiency of these nutrients in the plants. These nutrients include nitrogen and phosphorous. The plant requires these nutrients so as to survive. It is hence evident that the plant has to trap insects and feed on them so as to survive. The electrical properties of the Venus flytrap are very essential in the built environment as they help in responding to stress, which might be experienced in the environment. Works Cited Braude, Stan, and Bobbi S. Low. An Introduction to Methods & Models in Ecology, Evolution, & Conservation Biology. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010. Print. Lambers, Hans, Chapin, Stuart and Pons, Thijs L. Plant Physiological Ecology. New York, NY: Springer, 2008. Print. Nagata, Toshiyuki and Ebizuka, Yutaka. Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Xii. Berlin: Springer, 2002. Print. Tobin, Allan J, and Jennie Dusheck. Asking About Life. Belmont, Calif: Brooks/Cole, 2005. Print. Volkov, Alexander G. Plant Electrophysiology: Signaling and Responses. Berlin: Springer, 2012. Print. Read More