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The carnivorous bladderwort (Utricularia, Lentibulariaceae): a system inflates
Victor A Albert1, Richard W Jobson, Todd P Michael
1Department of Biological Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14260, USA. vaalbert@buffalo.edu
Journal of Experimental Botany
|December 17, 2009
Summary
Bladderworts secrete photosynthetic carbon to support bacteria that attract prey. These carnivorous plants also exhibit unique genome evolution, possibly driven by reactive oxygen species (ROS).
Area of Science:
- Plant Biology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Microbiology
Background:
- Carnivorous plants, like Utricularia (bladderworts), thrive in nutrient-poor soils, capturing prey for nitrogen and phosphorus.
- Some species also obtain carbon from prey, a process not fully understood.
- Bladderworts exhibit unusual molecular evolutionary traits, including rapid genome size changes and high nucleotide substitution rates.
Discussion:
- Utricularia paradoxically secretes photosynthetically assimilated carbon into its trapping environment.
- This secreted carbon may foster a mutualistic bacterial community.
- This bacterial community could produce allelochemicals that attract microcrustaceans, mimicking bladderwort traps.
Key Insights:
- Utricularia and Genlisea show anomalous molecular evolution, including dynamic genome size and accelerated nucleotide substitution.
- Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are hypothesized to drive these evolutionary phenomena via error-prone DNA repair.
- This suggests a unique interplay between physiology, microbial symbiosis, and genome evolution in these carnivorous plants.
Outlook:
- Bladderworts are ideal models for studying plant carnivory physiology and microbial interactions.
- Further research can explore novel nutrient utilization pathways, prey attraction ecology, and comparative development.
- Investigating the evolution of their minimal angiosperm genome offers insights into plant genome dynamics.
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